"To the citizens of Beeville falls the
unflattering distinction of having so completely ignored the
beneficence of the donor of the city's townsite that only old
courthouse records perpetuate the memory of her gift. Believe it or
not, there isn't a single street, building, marker or tablet named
or erected in honor of Mrs. Anne BURKE O'CARROLL, pioneer of South
Texas, who on March 28, 1860, deeded 150 acres of land to Bee county
as a courthouse site! The consideration was one dollar! Many pioneer
residents of Beeville and Bee county have had their names
transmitted to posterity in one way or another, but few of these are
more entitled to memorialization than Mrs. O'CARROLL, and few have
been as completely ignored! .........

Long before the first white settlers arrived in
Texas, Karankawa Indians roamed the coast, traveling
inland at least as far as what would become Bee
County, making their home at intervals over the
territory. The Karankawas have been referred to as
the only tribe that resided much of the time in this
area, although other tribes made frequent visits.
They formed one of the least ferocious of the four
tribes making history here, the other three being
the Lipans, Tonkawas and the Comanches. The
Comanches, a vicious tribe, visited the Bee County
area only
on fierce marauding
raids.

The meaning of the name, “Karankawas”, is not clear.
Some say that it means “carrion crows” or buzzards.
Another authority says that the name means “dog
lovers”. The latter seems more likely since this
tribe was unusually fond of dogs.

The Karankawa men stood six feet and more, some
reaching the seven foot status. The women were a bit
shorter. Their appearance was not flattering,
however. Although, while on the coast, they kept
themselves clean by diving and swimming in salt
water, they carried very repugnant odors due to
putting alligator grease over their bodies to ward
off mosquitoes. Wearing only breech cloths, and
without moccasins, they moved through thorns and
briars without harm. They were said to wear tattoos,
and were generally painted in fierce, warlike
patterns. Their movements have been described as
“sluggish” and their faces ugly.

A non-agricultural group, the Karankawas earlier
roamed from Louisiana to the Rio Grande River,
almost as far north as San Antonio and occasionally
into the northern states of Mexico. Later, a
decimation of their race limited their travel range
from Galveston through the section of the Gulf
Coast, occasionally through San Antonio to the Rio
Grande, and into Mexico only when pursued.

The Karankawas were primarily fishermen who lived on
the islands on the coast, near present-day Corpus
Christi. They had canoes which they handled
expertly. They were able to move their water craft
so well as to avoid even the vicious, hated
Comanches. They left the gulf fishing area during
the winter to hunt for other game, such as buffalo.
Traces of their names can still be found on county
streams, such as Papalote, Talpacote and Aransas.
They are believed to have been cannibalistic, but
only in the observance of religious rites. Unlike
some of the other tribes, they are not believed to
have eaten people merely “for the fun of it” nor
because they liked the taste of human flesh. Their
“mounds” of ash and arrow heads have been found,
evidence of their camping places. Not elevated
portions of ground, as some suppose, their “mounds”
are found in the form of fire burnt or ash deposited
soil, containing arrow heads, pot shards, whistles
(stone) and fist axes.

The Lipan-Apaches also hunted in this
area. At the end of the 18th century, Comanche
warriors made raids, taking scalps as they went.
They fought the Karankawas at every opportunity. At
times, the latter tribe gave the Comanches a run for
their money, putting up stiff and devastating
resistance. The Comanches, however, were far more
warlike and generally more successful in
inter-tribal battle. There were a number of recorded
battles between the Karankawas and white
frontiersman, posses and even the army.
Progressively, the red men got the worst of the
conflicts, and their numbers lessened until only a
handful remained.

Land Grants

The Spanish explorer, Cabeza de Vaca, was the first
white man to cross this area of Texas. He was part
of an expedition led by Panfllo de Navarez, who left
Spain with instructions to land in Florida and
explore the country. This group later sailed from
Florida for Mexico, but their vessels were wrecked
or lost along the Texas Coast. Cabeza de Vaca’s
small vessel was wrecked on Galveston Island in
November 1528. He became a trader and traveled in
1584 from Galveston in a southwesterly direction,
through the Coastal Bend, crossed what is now Bee
County, then turned northwest into El Paso and New
Mexico, in search of gold and silver. They
encountered buffalo, which Cabeza de Vaca described
as “cows”. The French explorer, La Salle, landed at
Matagorda Bay in 1685. He had intended to establish
a colony at the mouth of the Mississippi River.
However, a Gulf of Mexico storm drove him to the
Texas coast where he established a colony, Fort
Saint Louis, several miles inland. La Salle was
killed in 1687 and disease and Indians killed the
rest of the colonists. The Indians also destroyed
the fort.

In 1685, other Spanish explorers came to the area
and reported the possibilities for farming and
ranching between the Blanco and Papalote Creeks.
Carlos Martinez, one of Spanish King Phillip’s
warriors, was given a Spanish land grant that
extended into the northern part of our county. (His
entire family was killed when Mexico revolted
against Spain in 1821). Another Spaniard, Don Martin
de Leon arrived in 1805 and established a large
ranch between the Aransas and Nueces Rivers. In
1821, when Mexico became free from Spain, the new
government in Mexico took away all Spanish land
grants thus dispossessing Don de Leon from his
ranch.

A movement was led by Augustin de Iturbide against
Spanish rule, and in 1821 Mexico broke away from
Spain. Texas became part of a new Empire of Mexico,
with Iturbide as the monarch. Soon, however, a new
rebellion broke out ousting Iturbide, who was
allowed to go to Europe provided he never return to
Mexico. A year later he tried to come back and fight
for his throne, but was arrested and shot. During
Iturbide’s ten-month reign, several attempts were
made to colonize the coastal regions of Texas,
without results. After the province of Texas was
joined with Coahuila in 1824 forming the provisional
state of Coahuila and Texas, its congress passed a
colonization law on March 24, 1825, designed to
bring people to the region who “would promote the
cultivation of its fertile lands, the raising and
multiplication of stock, and the progress of the
arts and commerce.

The colonization law gave “empresarios” (land
agents) certain areas in which to locate colonists.
The agents did not own the land, but for every one
hundred families they brought to settle in Texas,
they would earn five leagues (22,540 acres) and five
labors (885 acres) of land. The law also stipulated
that empresarios must have approval of State and
Federal Government for colonization if any territory
lying within twenty border leagues of the boundary
of any foreign nation (about fifty miles) or within
ten leagues (twenty-five miles) of the coast. Four
men were given the title of empresario — John
McMullen and James McGloin, who established the San
Patricia colony; and James Power and James Hewetson
who established the Refugio colony. The four land
agents were natives of Ireland, but Power and
Hewetson became naturalized citizens of Mexico.

Under the original colonization law
passed by the Mexican government, all settlers had
to be natives of Ireland and members of the Roman
Catholic Church. (This was prompted by reports from
the United States that the many Irish immigrants in
New York and other eastern states were industrious,
honest and law-abiding citizens, and it was felt
that people of this nationality would become
outstanding citizens of Mexico.) However, James
Power persuaded the officials to amend the law and
permit natives of the United States, France, England
and Germany to settle in Texas. In a history of Bee
County written by Grace Bauer for the 1958
Centennial celebration, she named three families
from the United States who took advantage of this
special permission: Robert Carlisle, Isaac Robinson
and James Douglas.

Medio Creek

Rising in Karnes County, emptying into the Mission
River, the Media Creek was so named by the Spaniards
about 1800 because of its midway position between
the San Antonio and Nueces Rivers. It was crossed by
explorers, padres, soldiers and settlers who
traveled on early ox-cart roads that led from Mexico
to Mission La Bahia at Goliad. The Cart War of 1857,
between Texas and Mexican teamsters on the freight
route between San Antonio and Gulf ports, originated
along San Patricia Road, southernmost of the three
roads. Mexican cart drivers used mesquite beams as
feed for their teams, starting the mesquite brush
which thrives along the creek.

Settlers were attracted here by the
tall grass along the creek bottom and many veterans
of the Texas Revolution were given bounty lands in
the area. The first post office in Bee County was
established in 1857 at Media Hill, a pioneer
downcreek settlement. In 1909, the town of Candlish
was founded within 50 feet of the original Media
Hill location, with a hotel, general store and
school. The store dosed and Candlish became a ghost
town. Fossil beds on the Media and Blanco creeks, in
1938-39, yielded 1,000,000-year old fossils of a new
mastodon species (named Buckner’s Mastodon),
rhinoceros, elephants, alligators, camels and
three-toed horses.

Irish Immigrants

Many have wondered why the early Irish immigrants
left Ireland, Patrick Burke, Jr., in his
autobiography, referred to the “hardy and noble
pioneers” who came from “oppressed Ireland.” The
August 1958 issue of American Heritage quoted
portions of a new book “The Coming of the Green”, by
Leonard Patrick O’Connor Wibberley, which told of
the severe conditions of oppression in Ireland:

At the beginning of the 19th century, Ireland had
been united with England by an Act of Union, which
dissolved the Irish Parliament and deprived the
Irish of what little self-government they had
enjoyed. Rebellions failed to shake off England’s
control. The land was owned by foreign landlords
whose system was to rent small acreages to the
landless so that the landlord was certain of his
rents, while the tenant could be utterly destroyed
by one crop failure. If the tenant did well, the
landlord raised the rent. If the tenant objected, he
was evicted, as he had few rights under the law and
could get no one to represent him in those he did
possess.

With 20 or 30 tenants forced to share a farm that
previously had supported one farmer with his family,
the plots were so small that they could not live on
the produce from them. The Irish tenant farmer would
plant potatoes in the early spring (it was a crop
that looked after itself), then turn his wife and
children out on the road to beg. He himself would go
to England to search for work, as there was none for
him in Ireland. If work was not found, he too would
become a beggar. In autumn he returned to his plot,
harvested the potatoes, and used those and whatever
money the family had managed to gather in the summer
months to try to get through the desolation of
winter until the cycle could begin again. Homes in
Ireland were made of boards and turf. If he managed
to get a little pig to fatten on potato peelings, or
a hen or two, the animals would share the turf house
with him and his family, as there was nowhere else
to put livestock.

Many kinsmen had gone to America in earlier times,
some as indentured servants, bound to another man
for a number of years, after which they would be
free in the new land to make their own fortune. A
letter from America would excite a whole Irish
village. Someone would have to be found who could
read the letter because Irish Catholics had been
forbidden schooling for nearly a hundred years.

The letter writer would declare that schools in
America were free for everyone, and they could see
he was learning to write. Also, he wrote “we eat
everyday like we would in Ireland at Christmas”, and
that anyone might speak what was on his mind,
without fear. If a man would work, he would never
need go hungry. In almost every case, the letter
expressed the hope that family members would come to
America some day. A little money might be enclosed
toward the fare of a brother, a father or a mother.
The letters, combined with the increasingly
miserable conditions in Ireland, moved hundreds,
then thousands of Irishmen and their families to
emigrate to the new land.

The Hefferman and Burke families,
earliest settlers in what is now Bee County, came
from Tipperary County in the southern part of
Ireland. That county is bounded on the west by
Limerick and Cork Counties, and on the east by
Kilkenny County. Tipperary County is near the
Atlantic ocean, being separated at one point by only
about 10 miles across Waterford County, which bounds
Tipperary County on the south.

The First Settlers

Eager to colonize the area, McGloin and McMullen
went to New York City in the summer of 1829 and
conferred with many Irish immigrants who had
recently arrived. Two ships, the Aibion and
the New Packet,
were

loaded and set sail for Texas. The Albion,
according to the captain, Thomas Duehart, mistakenly
landed at Matagorda instead of the Port of Copano.
The New Packet brought his passengers to the
Port of Aransas (now known as Copano).

Research by the Rt. Rev. Msgr. William H. Oberste
(for his book “Texas Irish Empresarios and Their
Colonies”) reveals that the following families
arrived on the brig New Packet with John
McMullen, for the purpose of becoming colonists on
the Nueces River; D. Henry Doyle, priest; James
Browne, single; John Carzol(?) and wife; John
Hefferman, wife and four children; Patrick Hayes,
single; Jeremiah Toole, wife and four children; John
Gonly (Conley), single; James Quinn, wife and three
children; Thomas MacMiley, single; Margaret Quinn,
single; James Brune (Brown), single; Patrick
Kavlagun(?), wife and three children; Bernard Candey
(Candy), single; and Thomas Gierren (Geran?) and
wife.

The report shows that the following families arrived
on the Albion: James Magloin (McGloin),
Empresario, his wife and six children and one
servant girl; Thomas Henry, wife and four children;
Patrick McGloin, wife and child; Patrick McGloin and
wife; John Lamb and wife; James Keveny and wife;
Felix Hart, wife and three children; the widow Hart,
one son and one daughter; Pedro de Oro, wife and two
children; William Ryan, wife and child; William
Wallace, wife and five children: John Scott, wife
and six children; Patrick Brennan, wife and son;
James O’Connor, wife and three children; William
Quinn, wife and two children; Peter McCan, wife and
sons; Patrick Neven and wife; and Dionysio McGowan,
wife and five children; and the following single
persons: Doctor Cullen, Marcos Kelly, John McGloin,
John Faddin, Joseph Coleman, William Quinn and
Martin McGloin. (The report was signed by Marian
Cosio, Matagorda, October 31, 1829).

Father Oberste said another list of persons aboard
the Albion was evidently one presented to the
Vice-Consul of Mexico at New York by James McGloin
on making arrangements to transport the colonists to
Texas. This list showed some discrepancies and also
some additional names. The list as follows: Edward
McGloin and family, Thomas Hennesy and family, John
Lamb and family, William Quinn and family, Phelia
Hart and family, John Scott and family, James Keveny
and family, Dionysio McGowan and daughter, Patrick
McGloin and family, William Ryan and family, James
O’Connor and family, John (Charles) Gillan and
family, Patrick Brennan and family, Patrick Boyle
and family, William Wallace and family, Mark Kely
(single) and Patrick Golden and family. (This list
was signed by V. Obregon, New York, September 2,
1829). The schooner Albion made two other
trips to New York City to bring additional colonists
to San Patricia — on December 31,1829 and in March
1830.

Under their contract with the Mexican government,
the new citizens of Texas were required to bring
enough supplies, including arms and ammunition, to
last them two years. They had to make a paste of
cactus roots for axle grease to lubricate the axles
of the rickety and screeching old carts furnished by
the government. Upon landing at company, the
colonists’ bedding, clothing, foodstuffs, cooking
utensils, arms, ammunition, axes, spades and farming
equipment were stacked in individual piles on land
high enough above the water’s (page 3) edge to
protect the property from the tides. Many of San
Patricio colonist camped at the ruins of the Mission
near Refugio until they could proceed to San
Patricio to lay claim to their respective land
grants issued by the Mexican government.

Each colonist received from the Mexican government
10 milk cows, one cart and a yoke of oxen. A
garrison of soldiers were sent to protect the
settlers from hostile Indians. However, the
untrained soldiers were so lazy, and also cowardly
when it came to resisting Indian raids, that they
proved to be more of a nuisance than a benefit.

The first people to settle in the area that became
Bee County were Jeremiah O'Toole, James Brown,
Patrick Hayes, Patrick O’Boyle, James O’Connor,
Felix Hart, William Quinn, the Widow Hart, and their
families. They settled near Papalote and Aransas
creeks.

Another schooner, the Messenger, brought Mrs.
Ann Burke and other colonists. The voyage took three
months to cross the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of
Mexico. They landed at Copano Bay on May 16, 1834.
During the voyage, cholera broke out. Mrs. Burke,
Mrs. Mary Carroll and Patrick Carroll lost their
mates during the epidemic and the bodies were buried
at sea. (In later years Mrs. Burke married Patrick
Carroll, and this couple and their son, Patrick
Burke, Jr., donated 150 acres of land for the
townsite of Beeville (on the Poesta). This group
joined the families of James Hefferman and Simon
Dwyer, traveling by ox carts to choose their lands
at San Patricio. They selected their lands along the
Poesta (meaning moss creek).

The first homes erected by the settlers were simple
affairs. They were made of straight poles standing
side by side, the cracks filled with grass or moss.
The dirt floor was covered with white sand from the
creek beds, and the roof was made of split boards
cut from big trees. Chimneys were built of sticks
and moss, plastered inside to make them fireproof
and outside to protect them from the weather.
Plaster was made of clay, with moss which had been
boiled to make it black and durable for the filling
or foundation.

Later homes were log cabins, the logs hewed so they
would fit at the corners of the room or house. Then
the men learned to make floors of boards split
straight with the grain of the wood, using a sharp
ax and dressing the top side down until the floor
was smooth. The door was a half-door, although
sometimes it was built to the top of the structure.
A corn crib and smokehouse was added and a rail
fence was built around the site. If a home was away
from a running stream, a well was dug, a square box
built around it to keep people from falling in. A
pulley with two oaken buckets hung in the well. If
the home was near a running stream, water was
obtained from the stream. Sometimes during dry
spells, the stream stopped flowing. A shallow hole
was dug where rocks were found in the creek bed and
cool spring water obtained.

When conditions became better, with
the enemy driven back, people began to build houses
with rock duc from the ground on the rocky hills.
These rocks were moist, and easy to cut when taken
from the earth. They were sawed into squares and
left in the sun to dry and harden before being built
into a house. The first houses made of lumber were
erected about 1845. The material was brought here by
ox teams from St. Mary’s, a town on Copano Bay.

The Hefferman Families

Two of the families arriving to colonize this area
were the Hefferman families (the name was originally
spelled “Heffernan”). In late 1834 or early 1835,
these families settled at San Patricia and near
Refugio, as well as in the territory now known as
Bee County.

The James Hefferman family settled on 4,605 acres of
land located on the east bank of the Poesta Creek on
the side where the city of Beeville was later built.
His brother, John, and family located his headright
at San Patricia. The families lived a more or less
precarious existence for the next five or six years,
in constant dread of Indians and Mexicans. Of
necessity, they practiced the “live at home”
concept, growing everything with the exception
possibly of sugar and coffee. These supplies,
together with such luxuries as furniture and the
like, were brought from the boat landing at old St.
Mary’s by ox teams. In 1836 the settlers became
involved in the war with Mexico, and their troubles
increased. Mary Hefferman, daughter of John
Hefferman who located at San Patricia, gave an
account of a massacre by the Indians and Mexicans on
the ground where Beeville now stands. This is the
story told in her own words:

“My uncle, James Hefferman, still lived on the
Poesta when the war broke out. My father’s family
lived at San Patricia. My father and a cousin, John
Ryan, went to James Hefferman to assist him in
laying his crop, so they all could join General
Fannin’s command at Goliad. The day before they
finished plowing, they were attacked by Mexicans and
Indians in the field while at work, and all were
killed
(including John Hefferman and John Ryan). The
Indians then went to the house and killed the family
of James Hefferman, which consisted of his wife and
five children.

“The first intimation of the sad fate that had
befallen these early settlers was received by
relatives and friends at San Patricia when they
found at their cowpen one morning the cows of James
Hefferman, which he had taken from there to his home
on the Poesta. This aroused the suspicion of the
family, who at once sent their boys to find out what
the trouble was. On coming to the site of the
settlement and seeing no one, they returned to San
Patricia and reported no one at home. Then a party
of men went to investigate. They found the men dead
in the field. They had been dead several days. The
body of the eldest son of James Hefferman was lying
between the field and the house, while the bodies of
Mrs. Hefferman and the four younger children were
found at the house. The remains were collected and
placed in one large box and were buried near the
scene of the murder, although the exact spot cannot
be located. The calves of the cows which returned to
San Patricia were dead in the pens, the only living
thing on the place being a little dog.

“The field where the men were killed was located on
the spot now occupied by the courthouse, while the
house and pens were west of that location, about
where the old Whitehead home formerly stood. The
site is now occupied by the Mexican school.”

Mary Hefferman became heir to the land grant of her
uncle, as well as the headright of her father at San
Patricia. Hefferman Street in Beeville was named in
memory of this family. Mrs. John Hefferman and her
family continued to live in San Patricia until after
the Battle of San Jacinto, when Gen. Sam Houston
ordered all settlers on the frontier of Mexico to

either go east or into Mexico. Mrs.
Hefferman, with the rest of her family, went east,
locating at Brazoria, where her daughter, Mary,
married Hiram Riggs in 1838. They were the parents
of nine children, same of whose descendants still
live here. Later they moved to Goliad, where Mr.
Riggs engaged in the mercantile business until his
death in 1855. Mary Hefferman Riggs died there in
1903 at the age of 82 years. Burial was in the old
Bayview Cemetery in Corpus Christi.

Ann Burke Carroll

Ann Burke left County Tipperary, Ireland, with her
husband, Pat(?) Burke, in 1834 to settle in a new
land, a remote northern province of Mexico called
Texas. She was with child for the first time, but
having her husband with her gave some measure of
security. She thought she would arrive in plenty of
time to make ready for the birth even though now it
kicked and squirmed within her, seeming as eager for
its arrival into its new world as she was into hers.

The three-masted schooner plowed its way over the
Atlantic creaking and swaying as it sailed a
relatively straight course, despite the changing
winds. This new world they were now approaching was
discovered by Columbus 342 years ago, but for the
Irish this did not seem long. Many of the ruins of
the abbeys and the round towers in Ireland, the
latter to preserve the sacred vessels and the women
and children from the Danes, antedated the New World
by centuries.

Ann’s husband was of Norman descent. After William
the Conqueror conquered England in 1066, the Normans
invaded Ireland the following century (1169). The
Normans were gradually absorbed by the more
advanced, ancient Irish culture. The name Burke is
derived from the Norman name De Burgo, an important
name in the annals of Ireland. So much so did they
become a part of the Irish heritage that the name
Burke has been considered an Irish name for eight
centuries.

These Tipperary colonists were leaving the Old World
behind. A certain thrill came from being on the
water; the salt air was relaxing; and the view of
the horizon in all directions was novel. Their
spirit of adventure was satisfied as they sailed to
an unknown land. However, there was another side to
the coin. Willing as they were to put up with the
inconveniences of the voyage, sometimes it was
almost mare than they could bear; the crowded ship,
sleeping in the stifling hold of the schooner, no
sanitary facilities, meager meals cooked an the
ship, the scarcity of freshwater, and sickness among
the passengers, many of whom suffered from
malnutrition which made them susceptible to disease.
Tuberculosis was rampant in Ireland on account of
the famine and the cool, humid climate. No doubt
there were many with it an the ship.

All Ann could cling to was the hope of a free life;
this vision she must hold before her to bear the
three-month voyage. She kept repeating to herself,
“to be free we must endure; to own land we must work
to take it, and trust in Saint Patrick to make the
promises of land a reality.” Resigned to live from
day to day, she quoted to herself what her
grandmother used to say, “One never knows what the
morrow will bring. So be prepared.”

It is not known just when, but sometime after their
departure, Ann had another test of her faith. Her
husband sickened and died; but

not without the last sacrament, for Father T.J.
Molloy was aboard the vessel bringing his Fadden
nieces and nephews from County Mayo. Prayers were
said as the body of her husband, well wound in a
burial sheet, lay on a plank on the deck. Some of
the crew lifted the plank to the side of the
schooner, tilted it on the edge; the body slipped
off. A splash was heard and the ocean became his
grave. Ann Burke was alone except far the child
within her. But she was not the only one who endured
a similar loss. Mary Carroll’s husband met the same
fate. And Patrick O’Carroll watched his wife
being consigned to the sea. No matter how much each
resented his loss, they had to console one another.
This was the bond they shared.

After the schooner sighted land, it headed for New
Orleans, where overseas boats on their way to Texas
landed. In a few days they were on the water again,
and it was not many more until they sighted the
coast of Texas. The ship was too large to dock at
El Copano so that lighters were sent out to
bring the colonists and their belongings to shore.
They pitched camp about a mile from the beach; from
their woolen blankets and sheets they made tents to
protect themselves from the intense rays of the sun
to which they were not accustomed.

An hour after their arrival in the camp, Ann Burke
felt a stabbing pain. She knew that her hour had
come. Quickly, a makeshift tent of sheets and
patchwork quilts was thrown up. Besides shielding
her from the sun, she could now endure her labor
pains without embarrassment. It was not long until
she had pushed a baby into a foreign world, a boy
whom she had already named Patrick whether the name
was chosen because of her devotion to the patron
saint of Ireland or for her husband whose name is
unknown has always been a matter of conjecture to
his descendants. Little Patrick was a robust bay,
who cried lustily. Ann thanked God and St. Patrick
that both she and her child had survived the ordeal
and were well. God had seen her through this. But
all was not over.

The little one showed signs of hunger. Ann’s breasts
were swollen, and she could not nurse him. Little
Pat screamed as if he were being tortured. An Indian
squaw, recognizing his hunger-cries, approached the
tent. She had just had a baby and had enough milk
for two. In sign language she offered to be his wet
nurse. Ann had no choice; she was grateful. Once Pat
found the squaw’s nipple, his crying ceased and he
sucked greedily. He soon fell asleep. There is no
certainty to which tribe the squaw belonged, for she
came alone each day that she brought him to see Ann.
It is very likely that she belonged to the Copano
tribe. After a few days it seemed that the squaw’s
compassion was turning into affection for the little
tyke. There was no gentle handling of the babe. She
slung him around as if he were “a bundle of dry
goods.” In fact she treated him as one of her own.
Ann wondered each whether she would bring him back.
But her fears were groundless, for she came only
until Ann was able to take care of him herself, and
the colonists were ready to move on to San Patricia.
The Tipperary colonists were a welcome sight to
those of San Patricia. They were hungry for news
from Ireland. It made them feel that they were not
so far away from their homeland, for homesickness
plagued the colonists, especially the women.

Ann, as the widow of a grantee to be, was eligible
for the land that was to have been granted to her
husband. So was the widow Mary Carroll. Their lands
were yet to be chosen, surveyed and issued. So they
built their picket cabins in San Patricia. Two years
passed in relative tranquility except for the rumors
of war that began in the fall of 1835 and became a
reality at Gonzales on October 2. After the attack
of General Urrea on San Patricia on February 27,
1836, Ann gathered up her two-year-old Pat and her
belongings, and both she and the Carrolls went to
New Orleans. It was there that she married Patrick
O’Carroll. After the Battle of San Jacinto they
thought it safe to come home. But how mistaken they
were! The colony town was in ruins, and the few
colonists that remained were getting ready to leave.
So Ann and the Carrolls fled to safe~-ground,
perhaps to Victoria. However, after the annexation
they returned, rebuilt their cabins, planted their
gardens, and looked in vain for their cattle which
had been driven off by the Mexican Army. Indian
raids were frequent, especially by the Comanches.

During the late forties Patrick was a good sized
boy. He must have been a favorite of the men in San
Patricia because there are incidents recorded where
he accompanied settlers on hunting trips where
Indian fights occurred. But Patrick could not bring
himself to kill an Indian because he feared that he
might be killing one of the tribe to which the
Indian squaw belonged who saved his life. This
attitude carried over into his adult years. Major
Wood took him under his wing while they both lived
in San Patricia. Martin O'Toole had him go an
hunting trips with him and so did Bill Clark. In his
“Reminiscences,” Pat Burke tells of his step-father
“taking him to Lang Lake to get drinking water. They
had taken their jug, but on their way they could
smell horse meat roasting. This was a signal that
Indians were near. So they dropped their jug and
made for San Patricio. The next day the colonists
found their best horses missing. Burke says in his
“Reminiscences,” in order to prevent the Indiana
from stealing their horses, the settlers usually
made a thick high fence of brush held together
between posts enclosing a sizable area around the
back door. The horses, cows and oxen were kept
inside this enclosure. The only entrance was through
the front door.”

After the annexation Fort Merrill was established by
the U.S. Government an the McMullen League in
present Live Oak County to protect the settlers from
the Indians. During this period it fell to Pat Burke
to support his family, his mother, his blind
stepfather, and five half brothers and sisters. With
the establishment of Fort Merrill Patrick obtained a
job. He says in his “Reminiscences,’~ ‘And though
only a boy, I drove a wagon drawn by oxen carrying
provisions from Corpus Christi to Fort Merrill for
the troops. I made $30 a month, and that was
considered good wages for a boy in those times. When
I commenced on the job, I was scarcely large enough
to put a yoke on the oxen. I wore hickory shirts and
red shoes. It usually took me eight days to make the
round trip. Sometimes an axle would break, and then
I was two weeks making the round trip. There were
only two blacksmiths accessible, one being in each
end of the route. I made these trips alone, sleeping
at night by the side of my wagon. Finally, John Ross
of San Patricia bought me a good wagon at a
Government sale for $30. I worked it out.”

Pat Burke kept this job for three years. Sometime in
the early fifties Ann Burke and her son Patrick, her
husband Pat O’Carroll, and their five children went
to present Bee County to live, for this was where
their land grants lay. Bee County was formed from
parts of Goliad, Refugio, San Patricio, and Karnes
Counties. In 1858 it was officially declared a
county. Bee County and the county seat, Beeville,
were named far Brigadier General Bar. nard E. Bee.
He served for the Republic of Texas as secretary of
the treasury, secretary of war, and as the
Republic’s minister to Mexico. The first county seat
was Beeville on the Media (Creek), and the 150 acres
was donated by Edward Seligson. A picket courthouse
was built with thatched roof and dirt floor. There
was soon dissatisfaction with the location. The
offer of Ann Burke Carroll and her son, Patrick, of
150 acres for a townsite on the Paiste Creek was
accepted. This was from the Ann Burke League which
she was granted by McMullen and McGloin in 1835. The
town was now known as Beeville on the Paiste. At
first the townsite was named Maryville for Mary
Hefferman, the daughter of John Hefferman, and his
entire family, and a cousin, John Ryan. It was she
who first related the tragic story. But the name
Maryville was discarded in favor of Beeville because
there was another town in Texas by that name.

After more than a hundred years a marker has been
erected by the state which recognizes the generous
donation Ann Burke made to the place where she was
to live and die. The marker stands on the courthouse
square in recognition of a generous and civic-minded
woman. (From ‘The Forgotten Colony, San Patricia de
Hibernia”, by Rachel Bluntzer Hebert, with
permission by the author.)

Third Seal, For the Biennial Term of (L.S.), 1832
and 1833, 1834 and 1835
Flores
(Rubric)
Honorable Commissioner:

I, Anna Burk, native of Ireland, with status of a
widow, appear before you in due form, saying: That
having emigrated from my native land with my husband
and family to this country, at my own expense, with
the object of establishing myself in it permanently,
I have chosen for the purpose this Colony of San
Patricia of which Citizen John McMullen is
Empresario, and in it I have chosen the league and
labor which the Law of Colonization of this State
concedes to the new settlers of my class on the east
margin on the headwaters of Aransas; I promise to
settle, cultivate, and pay for said tract as said
law prescribes. Therefore, I beg you, please, as
Commissioner for the purpose, to give me the
corresponding possession of the designated tract;
and therein I shall receive grace and favor. San
Patricia, June 23rd of 183(5) [torn].

Widow, Anne Burke
San Patricia, June 23rd of 1835.

Empresario John McMullen shall report whether the
applicant is one of the colonists whom he has
contracted, whether she is a widow, a Christian, and
of good habits, whether she has come at her own
expense with her husband and family, and whether the
tract she has denounced is entirely vacant.

J. Maria Balmadeda
(Rubric)
Honorable Commissioner:

In consideration of your preceding decree I must say
that the individual making this petition is one of
the Colonists whom I have contracted for this
enterprise to which she came at her expense with her
husband; she is a Christian, of good habits, and the
tract she claims is entirely vacant. San Patricio,
June 23rd of 1835.

Juan McMullen
(Rubric)
San Patricio, June 25th of 1835.

Present this petition to the surveyor whom I have
appointed, Citizen William O’Docharty, so that in
consideration thereof he may proceed to make the
survey of the tract which it designates, in
accordance with the law, with citation of the
adjacent landowners, and having concluded, return
the entire file of documents to me with the
respective plat and notes in order to issue the
corresponding title.

J. Maria Balmaceda
(Rubric)

First Seal, One Cuartilla
Established by the State of Coahuila and Texas for
the Year of 1835

Navarro (Rubric), Flares (Rubric)

In the town of San Patricio of the Nueces,
Enterprise of Colonization of Citizen John McMullen,
on the 25th day of the month of June of 1835,1,
Citizen Jose Marie Balmaceda, Commissioner, by
Superior Decree of the Supreme Government of this
State, dated the 2nd of March of 1833, for the
distribution of lands in this Colony, having
examined the survey made by Citizen William
O’Docharty, Surveyor appointed for the purpose by
me, and in view of his original notes and
topographical plat which he has delivered to me and
which exist on pages 4 and 5 of this file of
documents, ordered the issuance of the respective
title of the league of pasture land, including in
addition one labor of arable land which corresponds
to the Colonist, widow, Anna Burke, according to
Article 6 of the Law of Colonization of the State of
the 24th of March of 1825, in the terms which are
expressed in continuation hereof. The first survey
began at a stake which serves as the corner of the
possession of James Hefferman on the east margin of
one of the creeks which from the headwaters of
Aransas called El Pastle; from said stake continuing
upward on the margin of the same creek 6 different
courses were run along the various meanders formed
by its currents to where a stake was fixed from
which course north 50 degrees east were surveyed
through vacant lands 9769 varas to where another
stake was placed from which course south 37 degrees
east were surveyed in a straight line 3733 varas to
where another stake was fixed from which course
south 53 degrees west were surveyed 5909 varas
opposite and possession of James Hefferman until
arriving at the place where the first survey began,
a tract which comprises a superficies of 26,000,000
square varas; I classify it as pasture land with no
more than one labor suitable for planting in season;
and this served as a basis for the amount the
aforesaid Colonist shall pay the State for all of
it; at the rate of 30 pesos for the league of
pasture land and 20 reales, which is the full value
of the 25 labors of pasture land and one more arable
land at the prices which have been stated; it is
understood that said cost is to be paid on the terms
and under the penalties designed by the same article
of said law and that within the the effect, Citizen
James Hefferman, who is the adjacent landowner and
who, on the execution of the survey, did not offer
the least opposition.

Therefore, by the use of the powers I have, and in
the name of the Sovereign, free, and independent
State of Coahuila and Texas, I confer upon, put, and
place the aforesaid Anna Burk in real, actual,
corporal, and virtual possession of one league of
pasture land, increased by one more labor of arable
land. She may freely enjoy and possess said tract
with all its corresponding uses, customs, and
appurtenances, now and forever, for her, her
children, heirs, and successors, or whoever from her
or from them shall have cause or right; and in due
evidence thereof, I issue the present title of
possession, of which a certified copy shall be given
to the interested party together with the entire
file of documents on which it is based, for the
purposes that are most suitable to her; and I signed
it with two attendant witnesses in the aforesaid
Town of San Patricio on the date cited at the
beginning.

I certify that the foregoing 4-4/5 pages contains a
correct translated copy of the original title of
Anne Burke, existing in the Spanish Archives of this
office, Volume 59, Page 46.
(Signed) Virginia H. Taylor, Spanish Translator

I, Bascom Giles Commissioner of the General Land
Office of the State of Texas, do hereby certify that
Virginia H. Taylor whose signature is subscribed to
the foregoing certificate, is the Spanish Translator
of this office, duly qualified according to law, and
that her official acts, as such, are entitled to
full faith and credit.

In Testimony Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand
and caused the seal of said office to be affixed,
the day first above written.

(Signed) Bascom Giles, Commissioner

Patrick Burke

Pat Burke was never free from responsibility. Since
his stepfather became blind, he had been the
provider driving the ox cart to Fort Merrill for $30
per month. After they left San Patricio to settle on
their land grants, he took up the running of both
leagues and labors of land (9210 acres)
belonging to his mother and his stepfather. There in
Bee County, prairie grassland waist and knee high,
he tended the cattle. The mesquite and huisache he
had not yet intruded upon this sea of grass which
was teeming with wildlife. No fences kept the herds
separated so that it was up to the cowboy to keep
the cattle from straying too far and getting mixed
up with other herds grazing on the range. But this
was almost an impossible task. Twice a year in the
spring and in the fall there were roundups, and
cattle were branded. If a cowman found that a stray
yearling was not branded, he would brand him; not
with his own brand but with that of the owner. This
was the code of the cowman. They could be trusted
not to brand someone else’s animal with their own
brand. He would no more steal another man’s animal
than he would steal his saddle, even though he had
the perfect opportunity to get but with it. Then
during court week the cowmen would gather round the
table at a boarding house. Each had marked in a
ledger the brands he had sold in Kansas for his
neighbor and would pay him in gold for whatever the
animal had brought. This does not mean that there
were no cattle thieves in the country, that the
brands were not blatched by rustlers, and that the
perfect chance to be dishonest was not taken
advantage of. But the big cowman was not among them.
And Patrick Burke was one of these.

Pat Burke was only nineteen when he carried the
responsibility of a man and carried it with
confidence. How he received an education is not
known, but from the language of his “Reminiscences,”
he got it somewhere along the way. He managed the
two leagues of land expertly, and the cattle
business crept into his blood.

Several years passed. A family named Ryan came to
the Beeville area. James Ryan was originally from
Pennsylvania. He drifted into Texas and joined Sam
Houston in the Battle of San Jacinto. He brought his
family to Lavaca County and there his daughter,
Nancy Jane, was born in 1841. He and his wife,
Matilda Howard, then moved to Clareville, a
settlement near Beeville in 1859. They had two other
daughters, Alice and Charlotte. Nancy Jane, now
grown to womanhood, met Pat Burke.

In March 1861 Ann Burke Carroll deeded a half league
to her son, Patrick, a part of the league that had
been granted to her by McMullen and McGloin in 1835.
Pat paid $100 for the land (2214 acres). Thus, Ann
practically gave it to him for the great help he had
been to her and her blind husband. Pat now had land
of his very own. So the following month on April 4,
1861, Pat and Nancy Jane were united in marriage by
the Reverend A. Borias, pastor at San Patricio with
Beeville as one of his mission churches.

Patrick and Nancy Jane Burke built a house on the
property deeded to him by his mother. It was a frame
house of cypress held together with square nails,
which followed the true Irish pattern of that day. A
loft was to be the sleeping quarters for the older
children. Narrow stairs climbed the side of the wall
where a rail was attached for safety, the only thing
to catch to upon climbing them, for they had no
bannisters on the other side. There was a large
fireplace used for cooking until they got a
wood-burning stove. Patrick and Nancy’s bed was in
the room under the loft.

The War Between the States had begun, and South
Carolina was the first to secede from the Union.
Other states followed. The secession of Texas was
delayed because Governor Sam Houston was
wholeheartedly against it. He was for the
preservation of the Union and the constitution which
he had pledged to uphold. Further delay was caused
by meetings which were to decide which course to
take. Finally, a popular election was held, and
Texas became a member of the Confederacy by a large
majority. Sam Houston resigned his office as
governor.

Patrick Burke had a family now, a wife and two
children. So he joined Captain Ballard’s Volunteers
of the Mounted Rifle Company for home service in
June of 1861. Sometime after the birth of his second
child, he joined Colonel Bushell’s regiment, Company
F, and served until the end of the war. He was
flagbearer in General Beauregard’s army. Once the
flag was shot out of his hand; he picked it up and
marched on as if nothing had happened. Patrick Burke
was one of 70,000 Texans who served the Confederate
cause. When the war was over, Patrick came back to
his ranch where he had a herd of 500 to 600 head of
cattle. Upon his return he found that his herd had
diminished instead of increased. Undaunted by the
setbacks of the war, in the seventies he began to
buy both small and large tracts of land, continued
purchasing through the ‘80’s until he had
accumulated approximately 25,000 acres in Bee
County. During the eighties the price of land had
doubled, but he continued to buy. One has but to
look through the Deed Records of Bee County to find
the many purchases of land that he made, too many to
record in detail.

It was during the seventies and the eighties that
most of his children were born: four Sons, Edmund
L., Joseph E., John Jerome, and Peter J., and four
girls: Jane, married P.S. Clare; Molly, married Dr.
T.M. Thurston; Clara, married John Wilson; and Mice,
married Sam H. Smith.

Ann Burke Carroll (1814-1876) died at her ranch home
on the Carroll League. She was buried in the
Corrigan Cemetery in the churchyard of the Sacred
Heart of Jesus Church, where a stake marked called
Campo Santo guards its dead. Pioneering for
forty-two years after she gave birth to Patrick in
the wilderness of Texas and living through three
wars in which Texas fought was no mean test of her
endurance. The loss of his mother had been a blow to
Patrick, for he had been responsible for her all of
his life. They had been through many trials
together, and this accounted for the deep feeling
they had for each other. The outdoor life on the
ranch riding miles and miles kept his body active
and his mind occupied, but at intervals he had time
to come to terms with the death of his mother. He
came to admire those qualities that made her a true
Texas pioneer.

Besides the ranches that he acquired in Bee County,
he bought land in Live Oak County and occupied a
sizable spread of nearly 15,000 acres. The Deed
Records in Live Oak County Courthouse attest to
this. By 1876 Pat Burke had forged ahead in the
cattle business, not without its reverses caused by
droughts, but he managed to hold on to his land by
keeping mortgages down to a minimum. True, in those
days there was no other way to raise money (either
mortgage the land, or sell it) and many a cattleman
went out of business and lost his land on account of
mortgages that could not be met. But Pat Burke
bought mostly small tracts at a time and did not let
debts get a death grip on his land.

During the ‘70’s and the ‘80’s the cattle drives to
Kansas were at their peak. Pat Burke did not let
this opportunity for profit and adventure pass him
by. So he rode the trail with other owners as well
as with his own herds. The families of the trail
drivers hated to see them go. There was a feeling
that the home were deserted, and besides the drivers
were

not without their dangers; stampeding; lightning,
which herds of cattle attracted; and Indians, if
their demand for beeves was not granted. They knew
the mischief they could cause by whooping and
hollering, thereby causing a stampede. The days in
the saddle were long and fatiguing, and those who
were assigned to the rear were plagued by the dust
kicked up by the cattle. The nights were long and
wearisome. The cowboys took turns singing and
milling the cattle until the animals had settled
down for the night. An absence of three months made
them lonesome for their loved ones. But they looked
forward to reaching Dodge, get their cattle
marketed, and perhaps go east to a large city where
they bought jewelry for their sweethearts and wives.
However, it was a great experience and a colorful
period in the history of the cattle business.

Besides the cattle business and the accumulation of
land, Pat Burke was always interested in the
betterment and the progress of Bee County and
Beeville. In 1878 he was elected county commissioner
of Bee County where he served for several years.
Anything which was for the good of the region in
which he lived brought an answer to the call to
serve without hesitation. One night when he was
riding from his ranch in Live Oak County, as he
climbed the hill he saw in the distance the electric
lights of Beeville. He could hardly believe his
eyes, for in his mind’s eye he contrasted it with
the Beeville of earlier days when from that vantage
point Beeville was shrouded in darkness; until its
outskirts were reached, one could see only the dim
lights of the candles and the kerosene lamps showing
through the windows. Another thing Pat Burke had
witnessed was the coming of the railroad through
Beeville. By this he was assured that it would not
become a ghost town.

As his holdings grew he and Nancy Jane built a home
on the original headright of Ann Burke, but it was
closer to the town of Beeville. It was a typical
South Texas house of the early days — a story and a
half with a wide gallery stretching across the front
of the dormer windows jutting from a steep roof.
Many contented and productive years were spent in
this house. He saw his children grow to adulthood,
marry, and have families of their own. He prized his
many grandchildren. One granddaughter remembers back
when she was four years old the impression she had
of her grandfather.

“Grandfather always had goodies for the children put
up on the top shelf of the wardrobe in his bedroom.
When we’d come to see him, at sometime during the
visit, he would take us to his room, and from the
wardrobe shelf he would bring down stick candy,
ginger snaps or apples. Our visit was not complete
until this ritual was over.

The year 1897 brought sadness to the Burke house.
The prick of a pin set into motion the thing that
caused Nancy Jane’s death. After home remedies and
doctor’s prescriptions, she became seriously ill of
blood poisoning and died soon after. A companion and
helpmate, such as she with her even and calming
disposition, would always be missed. Time eased the
pain of Patrick’s loss, but, the vacancy could not
be filled by another. Pat Burke missed his wife and
grieved for her, but he took her death as he had
taken life, something that he accepted and could
still go on living, even though it would leave its
scar. Pat Burke lived fifteen productive years after
the death of his wife. He was satisfied with what
life had dealt out to him, and he had no regrets
with what he had done with his opportunities.

In 1899 a news item appeared in the Beeville
newspaper: “Ranchman Patrick Burke is among the
latest of the cattle growers to go into the business
of raising improved cattle. On his recent trip to
Fort Worth he purchased eight thoroughbred Durhumes
(sic.)
at a cost of $125 each.”

All during Patrick Burke’s life he was proud of his
Texas heritage, for no one could be more truly Texan
than he. He was proud that an Indian squaw had saved
his life, that he started his life in the Irish
colony of San Patricia, that he was a citizen of the
Republic of Texas during its ten difficult years,
and that he lived his life and made his fortune in
the state of Texas. Add to this his service in the
Confederate Army. He ~ad in his mind a wealth of
historical material, and when he was called upon, he
told it with gusto. He never complained of pioneer
life. On the contrary, he enjoyed it and the
excitement and opportunities it afforded. He once
said, “We carried to the table a keen appetite and
enjoyed with relish our simple fare of meat and
bread.”

He lived to the ripe old age of seventy-eight, old
by the standards of that day, and was the last of
the original colonists of San Patricia. He died in
Beeville in 1912 and was laid to rest in Saint
Joseph’s Cemetery by the side of Nancy Jane. It was
men such as he that made Texas great. Honesty,
loyalty and charity was inherent in his nature.
Seldom was he provoked to anger unless it was
against an unjust cause, and then he exhibited the
tough fiber of his nature well covered by his genial
personality.

(From “The Forgotten Colony, San
Patricia de Hibernia” by Rachel Bluntzer Hebert, by
permission of the author.)

Recollections of Patrick Burke, Jr. (First Baby Born
to Colonists)

One hour after Mrs. Ann Burke landed at Copano, she
gave birth to the first baby born to the colonists
who settled on the Poesta. When Patrick Burke was
born his mother was unable to feed him; an Indian
Squaw heard his hungry cries and nursed him. He
lived with the Indiana until his mother recovered
and could take care of him. In his adult years,
Burke wrote a brief autobiography which was
published in the
Galveston News. I-us story described many of the
hardships that were experienced by the first
settlers.

“My birth occurred about one hour after my mother
set foot on Texas soil, and before she had gone one
mile from the shore where she and the other
colonists were landed. Her breast rose and she was
unable to nurse me. This section of the country was
uninhabited, and it was out of the question to
obtain milk or nourishment suitable for an infant.

“But Providence, in His kindness and mysterious way,
provided the relief. At this junction an Indian
squaw, who had left her babe with her tribe, entered
the camp of the colonists, and her heart no doubt
being touched by my cries, came to my mother’s bed,
took me and nursed me. Thus as God sent the ravens
to feed Elijah at the brook Cherith, so did He send
this uncouth and uncivilized Indian squaw to nurse
and furnish me, a starving infant, with nourishment
in the wilderness of Texas. She carried me to her
tribe and cared for me until my sick and bereaved
mother was able to take care of me. Each day she
brought me back for my mother to see me. Her manner
of handling me was in striking contrast with that of
my own mother. She would pitch and sling me about
like I was a pup or a bundle of dry goods. During
all the time the colonists remained in this camp
this woman was the only Indian who came about us, or
even came in sight of any one of the colonists. If
others of the tribe ever came near our camp they
kept themselves perfectly secreted.

“From this camp the colonists went and settled at or
around San Patricia. They remained loyal to the
Mexican government until 1836, notwithstanding the
bad faith which characterized its dealings with
them. When the revolution of 1836 developed, these
hardy and noble pioneers from oppressed Ireland,
breathing the true spirit of freedom, went east and
joined the other colonists in the fight for liberty
and political independence.

“Before annexation, my mother married Pat Carroll
and they went to New Orleans but returned to San
Patricia after the battle of San Jacinto. During the
time intervening between this battle and annexation,
this part of Texas was subject to both Mexican and
Indian raids, and we returned to a country without
supplies. Our homes had been destroyed and hard
times stared us in the face.

“We soon constructed log houses, made picket fashion
with dirt floors and thatched roofs, clapboards
being used to stop the cracks between the pickets.
Our pioneer architecture was simple and inexpensive
and did not require the outlay of large sums of
money for plans, specifications, materials and
construction, but doubtless as much peace,
contentment and real happiness was found dwelling in
our quaint old homes as we now find in the palatial
homes in our towns and cities.

Our table fare, bread and meat, was also simple, but
our digestive organs were always good, and dyspepsia
never interfered with the keen relish and fine
appetites we always carried to the table with us. We
drank water from the creeks, ponds, barrels and cow
tracks, enjoyed goad health and never heard of
microbes, germ theories and diseases of modern
times.

“After we returned to our colonial homes, Indian
raids were still frequent. They invariably came on
the full moon during the spring, summer and autumn
months, and oxen coming home with arrows shot in
their bodies often admonished us that Indians were
lurking in the neighborhood and ready to surprise us
by swooping down upon us. They frequently swept the
country of saddle ponies, and leaving mounts enough
in the community on which the men could pursue them.
In making their escape when they were pursued, they
always had the advantage of their pursuers. They
generally had already stolen the best horses and
were returning with a large he d when discovered and
could change mounts whenever the horses they were
riding became jaded, while our men usually had to
take for mounts such animals as the Indians had left
behind or had failed to get.

“Whenever the Indians succeeded in crossing the
Nueces River, about 10 miles above Oakville, they
were safe from further pursuit. In order to prevent
the Indians from stealing our horses, the settlers
usually made a thick, high brush fence around their
back door, without an entrance except through the
house. About the full of the moon, or whenever an
Indian raid was anticipated, the horses, oxen and
milk cows were kept in this enclosure.

“One night the Indians stole Pat Corrigan’s horse,
which was tied to his gallery post. His wife heard
them and told him the Indians were getting his
horse. He picked up his gun, ran into the yard and
snapped his old pistol at them three times. He just
happened to see three Indians with their drawn bows
hid in the grass in time for him to make a safe
retreat into his house.

“When a boy, I went under the care of Major John
Wood, with others, in pursuit of the Indians. A man
named Mandola, who had been captured when a boy and
reared to manhood by the Indians, was our guide. He
was trained in all of their arts and cunning and
could even trail them by scent. It was hard
sometimes for our men to distinguish between an
Indian and a mustang trail, but Mandola was never at
a loss to tell one from the other. We traveled that
night until 12 o’clock and then slept till daylight.
Next morning when we awoke, Mandola arose and
sniffed the balmy atmosphere a time or two and said
he smelt the fumes of cooking meat and that our foes
were not far away.

“We did not go farther than five miles before we
came upon and surprised our enemies while they were
enjoying their breakfast of horse meat cooked on
coals. Immediately a quick and spirited fight
ensued. Major Wood kept me with him, the other men
separating and taking advantageous positions in the
scattering timber. One savage and ferocious old
squaw attacked the major and me. We tried as long as
possible to avoid the necessity of shooting her, but
she could handle her bow and arrows as well and as
accurately as a trained warrior, and was hurling the
missiles of death at us so rapidly that we were
compelled to exchange shots with her in order to
save our lives. Major Wood received an arrow wound
in the fleshy part of the thigh.

“This was the last Indian raid and the last fight of
this unfortunate squaw-warrior. Our force numbered
14. I do not know how many Indians there were, but
when the battle had ended we were the victors, with
seven dead Indians stretched upon the field. A few
old sore-back ponies and horses and the bows and
arrows of the slain Indians were the spoils of our
victory.

“Once I went with my stepfather to Long Lake,
carrying a jug with which to bring back some fresh
drinking water. We were in no particular hurry, and
while walking leisurely about the lake we discovered
the Indians in some timber a short distance above
us, cooking meat. While they did not seem to see us,
we were suddenly inspired with Saint Paul’s
in-junction to lay aside every weight and run with
swiftness the race set before us, so casting our jug
aside, we pulled off the prettiest race you ever
saw, going back into town, San Patricio, with the
old man leading me a neck or two. The skulking
Redskins, who always seemed to need good horses in
their business, made a call that night at the
premises of several of the citizens, who found
themselves without mounts and work animals the next
morning.

“In those days the country was full of deer,
panthers and other kinds of game and wild animals.
On one occasion while I was a boy, I went with Major
Wood, Bill Clark and Martin O'Tool (the last named
being a San Jacinto and Mexican War veteran) to cut
a road through the bottom. While we were at work the
dogs treed a large panther which we killed with an
ax.

“There were also many wild mustang horses, and it
was a sight to see them running when the settlers
were trying to catch them. If we

could manage to catch one of these old horses, we
would tie an imitation man upon him and let him
loose. Of course he would make for the herd, which
would try to outrun him. This would start every
mustang for miles around to running, and the noise
from these running horses, which sometimes numbered
thousands, often sounded like the terrific roar of a
passing cyclone. After they had run themselves down,
we could guide them into the pens with long wings
which we had built for capturing them. It required
strength and skill to rope and throw one of these
old snorting, jumping, fighting horses. It looked
like some of them could squeal, paw, kick and jump
at the same time, and they could never be conquered
until they were roped, thrown and tied down. We
generally roached their manes and tails and used the
hair for making ropes.

“After the annexation, the United States sent troops
to protect us against Indian raids, and though only
a boy I drove an ox wagon three years carrying
supplies for the troops from Corpus Christi to Fort
Merrill. I had to support my mother and my three
little half brothers and two little half sisters, as
well as my stepfather who was nearly blind and could
not work. He lost his eye when hit by a cork which
flew from a bottle of English port while he was
opening it. I made $30 per month, and that was
considered good wages for a boy in those times. When
I commenced on this job, I was scarcely large enough
to put the yoke on the oxen. I wore hickory shirts
and red shoes, and it usually took me eight days to
make the round trip. Sometimes an axle would break
and then I was two weeks making the round trip.
There were only two blacksmiths accessible, one
being at each end of the route. I made these trips
alone, sleeping at night by the side of my wagon.
Finally, John Ross bought me a good wagon at a
government sale, paying $30 for it. I worked it
out.”

Patrick Burke was married to Nancy Jane Ryan of
Refugio County. Their four sans were Joseph, Pete,
Ed and John Burke, and their four daughters were
Mrs. Mollie Thurston, Mrs. Sam (Mice) Smith, Mrs.
John (Clara) Wilson and Mrs. Bud (Jennie) Clare, all
of whom grew up in Beeville. Their descendants still
live in Bee and surrounding counties.

Patrick Burke died in August 1912 at
the age of 78 years.

Stockman’s Paradise

When the settlers arrived here, this country was a
wilderness, an empire of prairie land, the home of
wild game, the hunting ground of Indians, a virgin
wealth of pasture land, and a stockman’s paradise.
Wild game was in abundance, but the pioneer killed
only what he needed, leaving the rest to roam at
will. Strange as it may seem, when a deer or beef
was killed for food, it was hung up in the shade of
a tree, and a crust formed over the surface. There
were no insects to bother the meat, soit hung until
all was used.

Deer roamed the prairies in great numbers, often 100
or more being in a group. Their backs and horns
could be seen above the tall grass. Some time in the
late 1860’s or early 1870’s a disease called “black
tongue” broke out. The tongues of the deer swelled
out of their mouths, causing hundreds to die. Wild
turkeys were without number, and added greatly to
the food supply of the rancher and farmer well up
into the 1880’s.

Stock-raising began in what is now Bee County in
about 1840, some men driving their cattle here from
around Austin and Gonzales. Mr. Dunlap brought
between 600 and 700 head of cattle and settled in
the bend of the Aransas creek, near a spring and
deep pool of water. The stream ran from there on
down to the bay continuously. He built a rock house,
the walls of which were standing intact in 1939. In
later years Mr. Dunlap sold his cattle and rock
house to John Wilson, who in turn sold the house to
Capt. D.A.T. Walton, who lived there when he was
first elected sheriff of Bee County in 1876.

A number of early residents here, both before and
after Bee County was organized in 1858, took part in
the old cattle trail drives to paints north,
including the Kansas cattle markets. Few if any
herds for the trail actually originated in Bee
County. Undoubtedly, some cattle from this area
helped make up herds from other counties, notably
Refugio County. Numerous herds from the southern tip
of Texas passed Beeville. Feeder lines of the
Chisholm Trail passed through Bee County. Although
the original Chisholm Trail was surveyed from Red
River north, a practice grew up to call the Texas
feeders a part of the trail itself.

The four year Civil War interfered with the drives
which began in the late 1850’s. Bee County’s main
participation in the Chisholm Trail drives was in
the young cowboys who rode for cattle owners driving
to northern markets. Some cattle were driven from
this general area to New Orleans, and some over to
Mississippi and that part of the South to furnish
meat for the Confederate army during the Civil War.

The stockmen kept their cattle ranged on the land
they had settled as best they could, employing
line-riding to keep them all together and away from
other people’s cattle. It was possible to do this as
there was no timber or brush to obstruct the view
and plenty of fine grass near the watering place.

The pioneer men and women tried to
live by the Golden Rule. Their word was their bond
or note. If they borrowed money from a neighbor, the
transaction was just a verbal contract. There were
no legal papers drawn up requiring the signature of
friends. The obligation simply was kept in mind,
and, in most every instance, the men were true to
their word and honor. Money was carried in money
sacks, and when night came for the traveler camping
out, he threw the sack of money over a tree limb, or
used it for a pillow. If he stopped at a house or an
inn for the night, he left the sack of money on the
porch until morning with no thought of it being
molested.

Colonel Barnard E. Bee

Barnard E. Bee, Sr. apparently never saw the soil of
Bee County, and died in 1853 back in his native
state of South Carolina five years before Bee County
was organized. The county was named for Colonel Bee
in 1857 (the year the Texas Legislature “created”
the county) largely as a compliment to his son, Gen.
Hamilton Prioleau Bee, who had just finished serving
as speaker of the Texas House of Representatives at
Austin from 1854 to 1856. Three members of the Bee
family were connected with the history of Texas, all
three being born in South Carolina, probably in the
city of Charleston. There has been much confusion in
the biographies of the Bees and the following tables
of names, birth and death dates and ranks will help
keep the names straight:

Col. Barnard E. Bee (the senior), was born in South
Carolina in 1787. He died in South Carolina in 1853
at the age of 66. He was a military officer and a
civil official during the time of the Texas
Republic.

Brig. Gen. Hamilton P. Bee, was born in Charleston,
South Carolina, July 22, 1822. He died in San
Antonio, Texas, October 3, 1897, at the age of 75.
He lived in Houston, Velasco, Austin, Laredo and
Goliad. He was a planter in Goliad. A brigadier
general in the Confederacy, he commanded the 29th
Brigade, which included companies formed in Bee
County during the Civil War.

Brig. Gen Barnard Elliott Bee (the son and junior)
was born in Charleston, South Carolina in 1823. He
died from a mortal wound received in the Battle of
Manassas in Virginia, July 21, at the age of 38. He
had been commissioned a brigadier general on June
17, 1862, and had held that rank and title only 34
days when he died in battle. There is no record that
he ever visited Bee County.

Col. Barnard E. Bee, after whom Bee County and
Beeville was named, was the grandson of Judge Thomas
Bee, who held a commission from President George
Washington as judge of the United States Circuit
Court for South Carolina. Barnard Bee studied law
and served on the staff of his brother-in-law, James
Hamilton, governor of South Carolina. Disgruntled at
Gov. Hamilton’s participated in the nullification
struggle in 1843, Mr. Bee came to Texas in the
summer of 1835, at the age of 49, and joined the
Texas Army under Thomas J. Rusk. Bee served as
secretary of the treasury and as secretary of state
under David G. Burnett in the ad interim government
of Texas before the Republic of Texas was set up. He
later was secretary of war under President Sam
Houston and served as secretary of state under
President Mirabeau B. Lamar.

After the surrender of Gen. Santa Anna of Mexico at
San Jacinto, Col. Bee (who had distinguished himself
in the Texas Revolution) was sent as one of three to
Washington, D.C. to escort Santa Anna to President
Andrew Jackson. Santa Anna repeated his promises to
the young Texas Republic in the presence of the
President of the United States. The three Texan
escorting Santa Anna to Washington were Colonels
Bee, Hockley and Potter. Col. Bee advanced about
$3,000 to Santa Anna which he needed while a
prisoner. The vanquished Mexican general gave Bee a
draft on a Mexican bank for the amount. However,
when presented to the bank, Santa Anna dishonored
it. Many years later the Texas government made good
this loss incurred by Col. Bee.

Col. Bee was commissioned as minister to Mexico
after Santa Anna came back in power in the belief
that the new Mexican president would acknowledge the
independence of the new Texas republic as a favor to
his old friend, and conclude a treaty. He rode a
United State war vessel out of New Orleans to Vera
Cruz, Mexico. His mission caused considerable
commotion in Mexico, and Col. Bee did not disembark
for a time. Later, while a ship guest of his old
friend, Admiral Bandin of the French navy. Bee
opened negotiations with Mexico City. On his return
to Texas, Colonel Bee was appointed charge
d’affaires to Washington, D.C., in which capacity he
remained until the close of the administration of
President Lamar of the Texas republic. He held no
further office.

In March 1842, Mexican General Rafael Vasquez took
over San Antonio for two days, in order to notify
the world that Mexico’s claim on

Texas had not been relinquished. Col. Bee, then 55
years old and retired, was seen in San Antonio,
ready to defend the home of his adoption — the
republic he had helped to create. After harassing
Goliad and Refugio, the Mexican General and his 500
soldiers returned to Mexico.

Col. Bee opposed the annexation of Texas to the
American union, as he wanted to see the republic he
helped form remain a nation in the family of world
governments. However, the annexation of Texas was
affected, and on December 29, 1845, the Congress of
the United States accepted the new Texas State
constitution, and Texas became the 28th state of the
union.

Colonel Bee returned to his native state of South
Carolina in 1846. (Eleven years later Bee County was
to be named for him.) In 1853, five years before Bee
County was organized, Col. Bee died in his native
state.

Brig. Gen. Hamilton P. Bee, Confederate general, was
the elder son of Col. Bee and was our neighbor, in
Goliad. He likely visited the Bee County frequently.
During the Civil War, he was kept in Texas where he
was familiar with the border, guarding the coast and
inland areas. Though a student of law, he joined the
Texas army when war broke out with the Comanche
Indians.

Hamilton Bee was secretary of the boundary
commission that fixed the boundaries between the
Republic of Texas and the United States. Once a
merchant at Laredo, he was a Goliad planter when the
Civil War opened, and he entered the service of the
Confederacy. After the war he attempted to recoup
his fortunes in Mexico, but later returned to Texas
and made San Antonio his home. He came to Texas at
the age of 15, and lived her (except far a short
time in Mexico) for 60 years, dying in 1897 at the
age of 75 years.

Brig. Gen. Barnard Elliott Bee (son
of the man for wham Bee County was named), was a
native of Charleston, South Carolina. He graduated
from West Paint on July 1, 1845, and attained the
rank of lieutenant colonel. His first military
service as a second lieutenant in 1845 was in Texas
in the army of occupation to maintain peace in the
new state. He was promoted to first lieutenant in
the Mexican War and was engaged in the siege of Vera
Cruz. He resigned March 3, 1861 to serve in the
Confederate Army as an infantry major. He was sent
to Virginia to the army of the Potomac under Gen.
Joseph E. Johnston. On June 17, 1861, he was
commissioned a brigadier general in the Confederate
Army. Thirty-four days later, at Manassas, Gen.
Bee’s brigade was broken by a terrible charge of
federal troops when Gen. Thomas J. Jackson brought
up his five regiments to the support. As Bee met
Jackson, Bee turned to rally his men, and cried out,
“Here is Jackson, standing like a stonewall.”
Inspired to rally, for a time they stemmed the tide
of battle. Gen. Bee, with the colors of the Fourth
Alabama fell mortally wounded, and Gen Johnston took
his place and routed the federals. Thereafter, Gen.
Jackson was universally known as “Stonewall”
Jackson.

Bee County Created

Bee County was created by an act of the Texas
Legislature on December 8, 1857, and contains
538,880 acres of land (842 square miles). Mast of
the acreage came from San Patricia County, but also
included were portions of Refugio, Goliad, Karnes
and Live Oak Counties. General Hamilton P. Bee, then
Speaker of the House of Representatives, asked that
this new county be named in memory of his father,
Colonel Barnard E. Bee, and the request was granted.

The document creating Bee County reads as follows:

“An act to create the County of Bee and attached to
the 14th Judicial District. In honor of the late
Hon. Barnard E. Bee.

“Section 1: Be it enacted by the Legislature of the
State of Texas that all the territory comprised
within the following limits to wit: Beginning on the
Blanco Creek at the southwest corner of Goliad and
Refugio Counties, as defined in his bill, thence up
the Blanco Creek with its meanders to where the
Helena and San Patricio road crosses the same,
thence in a direct line to the southwest corner of
J. Johnson survey on the Medio Creek, thence up the
Medio Creek to the lower line of the G. Childres
survey, thence north 70 degrees west eleven miles
following the lines of the Gill and Igham’s survey,
thence south 27 degrees east to the lower line of
Live Oak County, thence in a direct line to a point
three miles south 36 degrees west from the mouth of
Papalote Creek, thence in a direct line to the mouth
of said creek, thence in a direct line to the
beginning. This shall constitute a county called
Bee, in honor of the late Barnard E. Bee, formerly
Secretary of War of the Republic of Texas.

“Section 2: That the County Court of Bee County
shall as soon as practicable after being duly
qualified proceed to locate this county seat of said
county seat, according to the laws regulating
elections, and the place receiving a majority of all
votes cast shall be declared the county seat of said
county. And if for any cause a selection shall not
be made at the first election the Chief Justice
shall order another election in the same manner
until a selection shall be made by a majority of the
voters of said county, providing that a point or
points not within five miles of the center maybe
selected by said court and voted upon for a county
seat, but such point or points shall receive a
majority of two-thirds of the votes cast, or shall
fail of an election, said county seat when located
shall be called Beeville.

“Section 3: That the chief Justice of Refugio County
be and he is hereby authorized to organize said
county, and it is hereby made his duty to do the
same by ordering an election for county officers
according to the general laws regulating elections.
Said elections to be held on a day by him to be
named and due notice of the same to be given in
accordance with the law regulating elections. The
said elections to be held at a point or points
within the limits of said county to be by the Chief
Justice of Refugio County designated and due notice
thereof given to the people of said county, and when
the returns of said election shall have been made to
he he shall issue certificates of election to the
persons elected and make returns thereof to the
Secretary of State, whose duty shall be to issue
commissions to the parties elected and said parties
may qualify before any officer of the State
authorized to administer oaths in case of absence or
inability of said Chief Justice of Refugio County to
act, then any two of the county commissioners of
said county shall have full power to act, and are
hereby authorized to perform said duties.

“Section 4: That the Chief Justice of Refugio
County, or in case county commissioners shall act,
shall be entitled to three dollars per day for every
day occupied by him or them in organizing said
County of Bee.

“Section 5: That said County of Bee be and therefore
is hereby attached to the Fourteenth Judicial
District and the courts be held at the county seat
on the last Mondays of March and September of each
year and continue in session one week.

“Section 6: That this act take effect and be in
force from and after its passage. Approved 8th day
of December 1857.”

The first court was held on February 10, 1858, under
a tree near the west bank of Media Creek, seven
miles east of the present town of Beeville. The
first settlement was called Marysville, in honor of
Mary Hefferman. Jack Phelps donated the land for the
location.

The February 14, 1908, issue of the Beeville Bee
carried an interesting story concerning the meeting
of the first County Court in Bee County. The late
W.O. McCurdy, who established the Bee on May 6,
1886, went to the County Clerk’s files and based his
story on the minutes of the first court held by the
Chief Justice (later called the County Judge), the
County Commissioners and the County Clerk. Mr.
McCurdy’s article, based on the minutes of the
court, is as follows:

“The Bee County Commissioners Court met Monday in
regular session, and, by a coincidence, the first
meeting of the first court of the county was held
just 50 years previous to the day, on February 10,
1858. The record of this first court is still intact
and in an excellent state of preservation. It shows
present as members of the first court, W.B.
Thompson, chief justice; Henderson Williams, clerk;
John J. Phelps, Lewis Campbell, Henry T. Clare and
David Craven as county commissioners.

“The first business transacted by the court was the
examination and the acceptance of the bonds of S.B.
Morrison, district clerk; James Drewry, assessor;
Williams Hynes, treasurer, and John O’Sullivan,
justice of the peace. It does not appear on the
records who was sheriff. The next business of the
court was the appointment of H.T. Clare as special
agent of the county to receive donations of a site
for a county seat. The next meeting was held on the
25th, and the county was divided into commissioners’
precincts. Their boundaries were described as
follows:

“No. 1: All that portion of the county lying between
old Fort Merrill road and old San Patricia road.

“No. 2: All that portion east of old San Patricia
road and west and south of road leading from town of
Refugio to Carroll’s Motts, thence running west to
the road leading to old San Patricia road.

“No. 3: All that portion north of Carroll’s Motts
and old San Patricia road.

“No. 4: All that portion above and north of old Fort
Merrill road.

“The following persons were appointed judges of
election in their respective precincts to select a
county seat, and the election was ordered for March
8, 1858: No. 1, Edward O’Driscoll; No. 2. Robert
Carlisle; No. 3, John O’Sullivan; No. 4, John F.
Pettus.

“Two sites were voted on that date, one offered by
Pat Burke, that on which the town of Beeville now
stands, and that offered by E. Seligson, on the
Media where the first court convened. The latter
site was selected but not without a protest being
filed with the court, claiming informalities in the
election. The protest was not sustained by the
court, and subsequent pages give details of
preparations for the permanent establishment of the
county seat at the Seligson ranch. The townsite of
15( acres was surveyed and different blocks donated
by the county for various public purposes~ among
them a cemetery and church sites for the Catholic,
Baptist, Methodist and Presbyterian churches. The
county seat was not to rest there in peace, however,
for before a year in the~ January proceedings 1859,
appears an order for an election to determine the
county sea question. This election was held February
26 1859, and what is termed ‘Burke’s donation was
accepted by a majority of the voters

“Several other sites entered this
contest but the detailed result of the election is
not stated except that ‘Burke’s donation’ received a
majority of the votes cast. This is the original
town site of Beeville. (the offers considered by
the~ court included the James Wilson acreage or
Aransas Creek. and an offer
by J.G. Campbell

“Of the persons mentioned as members a the first
court is alive now, but four of the~ voters at the
first election for county officers service. These
are W.R. Hayes, J.B Macfray T.H. Allsup and Hugh
May.” Other officers a Bee County were: J.A. Martin,
Sheriff R if Allsup, Deputy Sheriff; James Drewry
Assessor; and S.B. Merriman, District Clerk J S
Phelps was appointed to have the county line
surveyed, marked and established according to law.

A courthouse was built of pickets, and had a dirt
floor. The furniture consisted of one table and two
benches. When time came to hold court, each man put
his blanket in a roll on the back of his saddle, a
change of clothes in the saddle pockets and food a
morral on the horn of the saddle. He was off to be
gone until court was over — and it took every man in
the counts to hold it.

There was some dissatisfaction over the location of
the county seat. Some wanted to move it farther
west, while others wanted it to remain where it was.
After considerable debating, they decided to run a
line north and south then east and west, to find the
exact center of the county, drive a stake down and
build the courthouse there. This location was on the
lull about one and one-half miles northeast at where
the present courthouse is standing.

Mrs. Ann Burke offered to give 200 acres land to be
used for the townsite. After considering the matter,
the commissioners decided to accept the offer, as it
would save buying the~ land and at the same time the
town would be only a short distance from the center
of the~ county. So in 1860 the town was moved from~
the Media to its present site on the Poesta.

The first court held in Beeville (on the Poesta) was
in a one-room house where the Southern Pacific depot
was later built. This house was also used for church
services, as a schoolhouse, and as a theater when
shows came to town. Most pupils came from outlying
farms and ranches as the population of the town was
small.

The first courthouse in Beeville was
built in 1860 by J.H. Toomy at a cost of $473. It
was~ located across the street, west from the
present~ courthouse. It was a one-room building,
made of lumber. A well was dug near the building~
and furnished water for the public watering~ troughs
for teams. The court ordered that a subscription be
taken for the building of this house. It also issued
script for the amount subscribed by each man, dollar
for dollar. The next winter a chimney was built by C
B Hill and the fireplace was made by L. Clark Both
men took town lots as compensation for their work.
The Masonic fraternity was allowed to,erect
a second story over the
courthouse. Ewing Wilson and G.W. McClanahan had the
contract.

P. O’Carroll
her
Anna X Burk
mark
Patrick Burk

To
Bee County.
Deed.
Dated March 28, 1860
Filed March 28, 1860
Bee County Book A page 56
Consideration location of County site of Bee County.

Recites:

That Patrick O’Carroll and Annie O’Carroll, wife of
Patrick O’Carroll and formerly Annie Bark and
Patrick Burk her son, jointly concurring in this
deed of bargain and sole for and in consideration of
the sum of one dollar to us in had paid, the receipt
of which is hereby acknowledged and the location of
the County site of Bee County on the land
hereinafter described, whereby the value of the
remainder of these grantors lands are greatly
increased, have this day granted, bargained, sold
and released and by these presents do grant,
bargain, sell and release unto the chief justice of
Bee County and his successors in office all that
tract of land consisting of 150 acres situated in
said County of Bee on the Paesta Creek a branch of
Aransas river and in what formerly constituted a
portion of McGloins colony being a part of that
league of land granted to said Annie Burk as a
colonist in said colony.

Beginning at the upper corner of said grant on north
bank of Paesta a hkbr in the lower end of mat ink.
X; Thence with line between Anna Bark and James
Hefferman surveys N. 62’/z E. (Var. 9 45E.) 1600
vrs. Thence S. 27½ E. 650 vrs; Thence S. 62 ½ W. 927
Vrs. to the Paesta creek Thence up said creek with
its meanders to beginning.

Grants league and labor of land on the west bank of
the most eastern branch of the Aransas, called
Paesta. Begin at a stake also corner of James
Hefferman survey. Thence with meanders of said creek
as follows: N. 35 W. 400 vrs. N. 75W. 366 vrs, S.
70W. 30 vrs. S. 85W. 633 vrs. S. 35W. 266 vrs. N.
77W. 266 vrs. S.87W. 200vrs.S.78W.500vrs.S.65W.
l66vrs.N.

At the time of their last battle in Bee County in
the 1870’s, the Karankawas had probably either moved
further west or northwest of Bee County, or had
become nomads or semi-nomadic in nature, rambling
from place to place. From facts surrounding their
horse thievery and raids in this area, it appears
they did not live within the bounds of what now
constitutes Bee County during the 1870’s.

The story of the last fight, which occurred a few
miles west of Pettus in the 1870’s, was told by the
late Will Fox who lived on the land. Mr. Fox died at
his Pettus home in 1956. He recalled that Bill
Tomlinson, who had a reputation as an Indian
fighter, lived in that part of the county. One of
his horses had been stolen, along with those of his
neighbors. Someone brought a report that a marauding
group of Karankawas was camped near a well-known
landmark live oak tree. They not only had the horses
they had stolen, they were after more. Tomlinson led
a hunting posse on a scouting trip to surprise the
ruthless red men. They stayed away from the windward
side of the camp, as winds carried noises to human
ears and scents to Indian dogs. It was early morning
and the warriors were gathered around their
breakfast fire, heating rocks to throw into their
cooking vessels to cook their meals. The Indiana
were early risers, but Tomlinson and his men had
risen much earlier and planned their surprise visit
in every detail.

A lone red man was up in the live oak tree,
stationed there as lookout or sentinel. His job was
to give alarm in event of danger, or if the hated
Anglo-S axons approached. As everything was quiet,
he evidently grew drowsy and relaxed his watch. Even
so, a rustle in the grass was heard and the alarm
given. The Indian in the tree was uncomfortably near
the white men; he fell out of the tree and hit the
ground running. At that time, the posse had their
attention on the camp fire and the sentinel escaped.

Firing began, with trusty cap and ball rifles aimed
at the native horse stealer. The tribesmen forgot
about breakfast (not yet eaten) and leapt to their
horses. Some were instantly mortally wounded, but
probably more than half fled to safety.

This legend was based a true story, as well
remembered and authenticated by early residents of
Bee County. Cap and ball guns have been found on the
premises, as well as money. Just what the money
meant in connection with Indian depradation has
never been figured out.

Arrow heads and knives were also found on that very
ground. There had been a lake nearby and the Indians
camped by it when they were in that part of the
country.

Those of the last marauding Indian group ever seen
in Bee County, who escaped this ambush with their
lives, were pursued by the vigilantes headed by
Tomlinson in the hope that more of their horses
might be recovered. The horses left behind were
gathered up and returned to their rightful owners.
(Some animals in the discarded herd had evidently
been stolen in other communities.) The number of
horses were not very large, by Indian terms. They
had planned, no doubt, to take more with them.

It appears the tribe of thieves was never overtaken.
Tomlinson’s men had made it hot for them, and they
were running at breakneck speed to safer territory.
The nomads turned to the west, headed for McMullen
County. The story was handed down that the red men
beat a line to Sakala mountain in McMullen
territory.

Mr. Fox, highly regarded as an
authority on the lore and history of Bee County and
frontier happenings, said the final battle with
Indians in this part of Texas occurred in
neighboring Live Oak County, following the one in
Bee County by possibly three or four years. The name
of the tribe figuring in the Bee County or Live Oak
battles was not known — they were all just called
“Indians.

The following article on the early history of Bee
County is the first of a series which we will
publish from time to time and which should prove of
interest to all. The articles are from the pen of an
old timer, who has not trusted to memory for dates
and incidents, but recently went to the records and
secured such data as was necessary for the compiling
of same. Any facts overlooked or misstated, or any
incident that would make the record more complete or
interesting we would be glad to have from old timers
who may read these articles:

The bill creating Bee County was passed by the
Legislature, Dec. 8, 1857. The election of county
officers followed soon. The first County
Commissioners’ Court was held on the Medio at
Henderson Williams’ residence on Feb. 10, 1858.
Officers present: W.B. Thompson, Judge; Henderson
Williams, Clerk; John S. Phelps, Lewis Campbell,
H.T. Clare and David Craven, Commissioners. The
bonds of H. Williams and S.B. Merriam, County and
District Clerks, were approved as were the bonds of
James Drury, Tax Assessor and Collector, and William
Hines, County Treasurer. The bond of John 0.
Sullivan as Justice of the Peace was also approved.
A donation of 150 acres of land on the Medio by E.
Seligson for a county site was accepted. The bond of
I.G. Campbell as Sheriff was approved and R.H.
Allsup was appointed Deputy Sheriff. At an election
held the people ratified the acceptance of the
Seligson donation of land for the county site. The
court then employed Martin M. Kinney of Goliad to
survey and plot the town of Beeville on the Medio,
for which he was paid $30.

At the August election, 1848, Ewing Wilson was
elected Chief Justice, or County Judge; D.S. Page,
Sheriff and J.B. Madray, Assessor and Collector of
Taxes. At a former term of the Commissioners’ Court
bids were received for the erection of a court house
and the contract awarded to John S. Phelps. At this
term of the court the court house was received by
the court at a cost to the county of $165.

Some dissatisfaction with the location of the county
site existed, and donations of land in other
portions of the county were offered by other
citizens. These different places were voted for and
the Ann Carroll donated was selected. At the May
term of court, 1859 (H.T. Clare, C.C. Jones, S.C.
Grover, Commissioners; E. Wilson, Judge) the result
of the election on the county site was declared, the
Ann Carroll donated elected, and the county site
removed from the Medio to its present location on
the Paesta creek, and was named Maryville, in honor
of Mary Hefferman, the wife of James Hefferman, who
had settled on the present town survey and with his
wife and family, except one daughter, were killed by
the Indiana in June, 18~l5. The daughter was taken
prisoner by the Indians The town tract of 150 acres
was donated by Mrs. Ann Carroll and was surveyed and
plotted by Chas. Russell of Helena. The legislature
would no~ accept the name, Maryville, but said it
must be Beeville.

Early town leaders — Justice of the Peace Sam Jack
(with his law book, directly behind him James R
Dougherty (who had just finished his first case in
court, also Maj. W.S. Dugat, Hugh O’Reilly and John
Wilson

Beeville Public School 1894

Professor Win. E. Maddera, Beeville School
Supt.1900-1986

At the August term of the court the bond of Giles
Carter as County Treasurer was approved, and at the
January court the bond of Wyatt Anderson as Sheriff
was approved. At the March term of court, 1860, the
town name was changed from Maryville to Beeville. At
the August election 1860, G.D. Gay was elected
Judge; G.W. McClanahan, Clerk; W.S. Fuller, Sheriff.
The new Commissioners were C.B. Palmer and J.H.
Callihan. J.H. Stephenson was elected Justice of-
the Peace. He was the first to hold that office in
Beeville. He is the father of B.P. Stephenson, the
cotton buyer of Beeville, who has the distinction of
being the first child born in Beeville. His father
now resides in Yoakum.

At the next general election John Hines was elected
County Judge, James McKowen, H.T. Clare and D.C.
Grover, Commissioners. Under construction, in 1869,
Thomas Martin, David Craven and D.S. Callihan were
appointed Justices of the Peace and constituted the
Police Court, with J.L Smith, County Clerk and J.W.
Cook, Sheriff.

Part 2:

To use a modern phrase, there was at this time in
Bee County general hiatus in official circles. We
usually had someone in the clerk’s office who
recorded brands and bills of sale of beeves driven
out of the country, issued marriage licenses, etc.,
though sometimes we did not have even a clerk. And
once, while such was the case, a negro couple came
to town to get the necessary license to marry. Uncle
Tommy Smith, as he was universally called, was
acting postmaster. When appealed to by the
candidates for matrimony he was equal to the
emergency. He at once drew up a statement of the
existing judicial condition of the country, and
referred to a bill that had been introduced in
congress to legalize all marriage contracts among
the freed men of the south, and wound up the license
by saying that if the bill then before congress
every became a law its action would legalize the
contract entered into by the parties to whom the
paper was issued. The paper was signed, “T.J. Smith,
Acting Postmaster,” and was sealed with the post
office stamp.

If the parties mentioned in last week’s article ever
qualified and entered upon official duty the writer
fails to remember it, and here is where the hiatus
comes in, though we had a clerk most of the time. In
November, 1870, there was an election held for
county officers for which the following men were
elected for a term of 4 years: TJ. Smith, County
Clerk; W.R. Hays, County Treasurer; T.H. Marsden,
Sheriff; T.R. Atkins, J.P., Precinct No.; Ross
Morris, J.P. Precinct No. 2; RE. Nutt, J.P. Precinct
No. 3, D.W.T. Nance, J.P. Precinct No. 4. These
officers constituted the Police Court. They found
the treasury empty and public highways in a bad
condition. They inaugurated a system peculiarly
their own and original. They made the office of
superintendent of public roads and appropriated $100
a year to its maintenance and offered the office to
W.R. Hays, which he accepted. This gave him full
charge of all the roads in the county and authority
to contract for keeping them in repair, subject to
approval of the Police Court. From early in 1871 on
down to the present there have been held regular
terms of court and things judicial have had a
tangible existence.

In August 1871, Alec Reed, a stockman, was out with
his hands working cattle and was in camp on the
Sulphur creek in the northern part of the county,
when he missed some money he had left in camp in a
morral while he hunted cattle in the afternoon. He
accused a Mexican cook of stealing it and told him
that if he did not return the money he would kill
him. While Mr. Reed and party were eating supper,
the Mexican got a pistol and shot Mr. Reed in the
back, killing him instantly. The Mexican was
arrested, brought to Beeville and given a habeas
corpus trial before Squire Atkins and committed to
jail to await the action of the grand jury. There
being no jail in Beeville the Mexican was taken to
Victoria and put in jail there. When the grand jury
met it indicted the Mexican, he was tried, convicted
and given the death sentence, paying the penalty for
his deed by hanging, Dec. 23, 1871. The execution
was done by Sheriff T.H. Marsden, and the scaffold
stood just in front of where the Commercial National
Bank now stands. Mr. Reed and the Mexican both were
buried in the old cemetery.

Part 3:

Judge W.R. Hays, as all know now and have for years,
was not, in 1871, burdened very heavily by the
finances of the county, whose custodian he was.
There was not an iron safe in the county, no vault
for the safekeeping of the county funds. The Judge
carried it in his pocket, it took but little of his
time to properly care for it, consequently he
devoted much of his time to laying out and making
the public roads of the county. He laid out, marked
and mea- and put up mile posts to the county line me
directions of the county sites of the adjoining
counties, worked and put in good Mlidition the
crossings on all the creeks and ~r bad ulaces
encountered in establishing possible he would
contract parues living near the creek crossing to
keep them in good repair. By this means our -~ were
kept in good condition at a very expense and without
trouble to the public. Judge Hays had a good, strong
wagon and eke of oxen. With this and a camping
outfit he ~o over the different roads to the county
by tieing a cloth around one spoke of wagon wheel
and counting the revolutions ‘ the wheel he
accurately measured every in the county and put up
mesquite posts, rking the distance from Beeville.
These posts were very durable and not so long ago
the writer saw some of these old mile posts still
standing, where they were put more than 35 years
ago, silent witnesses to the honesty of he who
placed them there. The writer claims for the Police
Court as it then existed the credit for enacting
this novel, unique, effective and economical road
law, which the wisdom of modern law makers has never
equalled.

Downtown Beeville

Bee County was then sparsely populated, Papalote
being the most flourishing town in the county. There
were three or four stores, a good school and a large
Catholic church, and the precinct polled the largest
vote of any in the county, that is, there were more
voters lived there than anywhere else, though there
was but one voting place in the county, which was
Beeville, and the elections were held for three
days.

Part 4:

The Police Court of Bee County, as organized in
1871, remained unchanged and worked together
harmoniously up to March 1873, when T.R Atkins
resigned and was succeeded by J.C. Tyson, who held
the office of Presiding Judge up to the time of
general election under the constitution of 1876,
which restored the old regime of County
Commissioners’ Court, composed of county judge end
four commissioners elected for two years. The first
election under the new constitution was held in
November, 1876, at which WR. Hays was elected County
Judge; D.A.T. Walton,
Sheriff; H.M. Wilson, County and District
Clerk. The other members of the court are not
remembered positively by the writer at present,
though for Precinct Na. 1 we believe it was H.T.
Clare, and No. 2 Jeff Porter. Mr. Wilson had filled
the clerk’s office under the old regime by
appointment, succeeding T.J. Smith, deceased.

During the first term of Judge Hays the contract for
a new (the present) court house was let to Viggo
Kohler and was finished and received by the court in
1878, at the time an up-to-date building, and for
the last 30 years it has done service as Bee
County’s temple of justice. Its original cost was
about $5,000. It has served its day and is in no
sense in keeping with the buildings of modern
Beeville, and should be supplanted by a building
adapted to the purposes of a court house and one
that would reflect the wealth and enterprise of its
citizens and would not cause the blush of shame to
mantle the cheek of the citizen when asked by the
stranger to point the temple of justice.

Shortly after the installation of the new order of
things and the passage of the local option law, a
petition bearing the requested number of signatures
praying for an election on local option was
submitted to the Commissioners’ Court and the
election was ordered. The result was that local
option was adopted by a good majority and was
rigidly enforced, and notwithstanding the dire
prophesies of death and destruction to the town and
county every legitimate enterprise continued to
flourish. For ten years the county was under the
reign of local option, but with the advent of the
Sap railway in 1886 came new people who wanted to
change things and soon a petition, numerously
signed, asking for an election on prohibition was
presented and granted, the election ordered and
local option beaten. Numerous saloons sprung up and
have continued in business in Beeville since. Under
all kinds of conditions Bee County has continued to
grow and expand since the first passenger train
entered it June 14, 1886.

Part 5:

In writing the early history of Bee County, we have,
in the preceding article confined ourself to the
organization of the county, is officers, etc., and
for a while we will continued along this line, after
which we will speak of its early settlers, its
agricultural, its horticultural and educational
status and development. Our last article brought us
down to 1878-9.

During the summer of 1875 or 1876, a man named J.C.
Dwyer passed through Beeville enroute to Rockport,
there to purchase supplies for his saloon in Tilden.
While here he inbibed too freely of “John Barley
corn” and was of a pugnacious disposition and made
himself generally disagreeable. While in this
condition a stranger and non-resident of the county
came to Beeville and these two men soon became very
intimate, and at the solicitation of Dwyer, Ed
Singleton agreed to accompany him to Rockport. Late
in the evening they started for that place in
Dwyer’s hack. Soon after leaving Beeville they met
the mail carrier and took a shot or two at him with
their pistols, but the mail carrier was well mounted
and soon out of reach of the pistol balls. A short
distance beyond Dry creek the two men had a
misunderstanding and pistols were used, resulting in
the killing of Dwyer. Singleton left the body in the
road and drove off in the direction of Refugio and
to the San Antonio river, where he left the hack and
horses, having appropriated the cash and other
effects of Dwyer to his own used. Among the later
was a check on a San Antonio bank for $600, which
led to the arrest of Singleton, who, about 10 days
after the murder, presented it at a bank in
Indianola for payment. The bank at San Antonio had
been apprised of the murder and requested to
withhold payment of the draft, and when Singleton
presented it at the bank in Indianola in the morning
he was requested to call in the evening. In the
meantime the bank in San Antonio was apprised of
what was going on in Indianola, and wired to arrest
the party having the check. So the marshal of the
town was notified and was at the bank, and when
Singleton presented it at the paying teller’s
window, the marshal grabbed him from behind and put
him in prison and notified Bee County’s sheriff of
the arrest. Dock Clerk of Papalote was then sheriff.
He went to Indianola, got Singleton and took him to
San Antonio, where he was kept in jail till the
meeting of the district court. The only evidence in
the case was circumstantial, but the chain was
complete — not a link was missing. Singleton was
convicted and given the death penalty. An appeal to
the higher court was taken, while the prisoner was
carried to Galveston for safe keeping pending the
result of the appeal. The verdict of the lower court
was affirmed, Singleton brought to the March term of
court here and sentenced to be hung April 27, 1877.

In the meantime, D.A.T. Walton had been elected
sheriff. A guard of rangers, or state police, was
detailed to guard the jail, a small wooden
building, in which Singleton was confined after
sentence had been passed until his execution, which
occurred on the day mentioned, and was the second
and last legal execution in the county. A Mexican
was convicted of murder and sentenced to be hung,
but hung himself a day or two before the day set for
the execution. The gallows from which Singleton was
hung stood about where the Picayune office is now
and was left standing for some time as a warning to
wrong doers, notwithstanding the fact that the
commissioners court was repeatedly asked to remove
it. Finally, when a strong wind partially destroyed
it and did no other damage to the town, it as
ordered removed and Carpenter Rudolph, who had just
come to Beeville, tore it down.

Part 6:

The first school ever taught in the present town of
Beeville was under the principalship of John R.
Shook, ably assisted by wife. This was in 1861. The
old court house, which stood about where the
Picayune office is now located, was used for a
school house and here the writer under Shook
received his last schooling. Mr. Shook was then a
young man of superior attainments and had come to
south Texas only a short time before going first to
Atascosa County, where he invested quite a sum of
money in horse stock. He was in partnership with
someone whose name is not now remembered. Mr. Shook
not being a stockman let his stock out to others to
be cared for while he devoted his time to other
pursuits at which he was more successful, one of
which was seeking a life partner, whom he found in
the person of

Miss Dial. They were married in 1860 and immediately
he came to Beeville and secured the school. Mr.
Shook and his wife were capable teachers and strict
disciplinarians, maintaining good order and had the
love and respect of the entire school. Among the
larger pupils the writer remembers J.C. Thompson,
J.M. McCullom, Ed Tatum, all deceased, Mat Fuller,
son of Sheriff W.I. Fuller and quite a number of
young ladies, only one of whom, so far as the writer
knows, is living — Mrs. Henry Ryan, nee Miss Ann
Carroll.

J.C. Thompson volunteered in the Confederate Army,
joining Wood’s Regiment, 32nd Texas Cavalry. Ed
Tatum, Jim McCullom and two other young men who did
not attend Mr. Shook’s school (George Kibbie and
M.V. Wright) joined Terry’s Rangers. They went to
the army in Kentucky, while Ed Tatum died in camp
near Baling Green. Jim McCullom’s health failed and
he was discharged. M.V. Wright was killed in the
battle of Missionary ridge. George Kibbie remained
with the command and fought in most of the battles
engaged in by the Rangers and returned to Beeville,
where he engaged in the mercantile business for a
while, later going to Marshall, Texas, where he died
of yellow fever. The writer joined Captain M.M.
McKinney’s Company, 21st Texas Cavalry, where we
remained throughout the war and was honorably
discharged in May, 1965. Mr. Shook joined the army
and served in Buzchell’s Regiment of Cavalry, where
he made a good soldier and got to be a lieutenant.
We met him in Louisiana after the battle of
Mansfield, when we were driving Gen. Banks back to
New Orleans.

But back to the subject. The next school in Beeville
was conducted by Ben Hunt in ‘62 and ‘63, after
which G.W. McClanahan and wife taught up to shortly
before the close of the war. The first school after
the war was conducted by T.S. Archer and Geo. T.
Staples. They ran a very successful school for two
terms and were followed by a Mr. Shive. In the
meantime the Methodists had built a church on the
block where the S.A.&A.P. Depot is now located. The
building was to be used for a school house as well
as a church, and all denominations had free use of
it when not used by the Methodists.

The next school was taught by T.I. Gilmore and wife,
then by J.J. Swan, whom we mentioned in the
preceding article as county attorney and who
represented the state in prosecuting Ed Singleton,
who was the subject of the second legal execution in
Bee County. T.A. Blair then taught the school for a
few terms. He was followed by John W. Flournoy,
though a term along about this time (which is the
early 80s) was taught by a Mr. Holzclaw, who was an
ex-member of Quantrels’ famous band during the civil
war. He was an affiable gentleman and quite
reticient on his war record, and was a capable
school teacher.

Main Street Beeville 1909 Old courthouse

During Mr. Flournoy’s incumbency as teacher the
S.A.&A.P. Ry. was built into Beeville, and the lot
on which the Methodist church and school house was
selected for the depot grounds. The old building was
sold to the negroes for a church and moved across
the creek west of town, where it is still used. The
school secured ground north of where the High School
building is now located, and put up two frame
buildings, one a two-story, where the Beeville High
School was established under the guidance of Profs.
J.W. and LW. Bell. Here it remained and under their
charge until 1895, when the present High School (new
building) was finished, and under the principalship
of Smith Ragsdale, for a while, then L.W. Bell,
followed by T.G. Arnold, until his health failed.
Since then W.E. Madderra has been at its head.
Under these able men a reputation for efficiency
has been established, which places Beeville in the
front ranks as an educational center. In mentioning
those who have taught school in Beeville, we do not
claim to have mentioned all, for those reminiscences
are from memory, but are, as a whole, reliable.

Part 7:

When the writer first came to Bee County in the fall
of 1860, the country presented a very different
appearance to what it does now. Then there was no
undergrowth or brush, with the exception of a few
frees, generally growing in groups, known as mote.
The whole country was an open prairie over which
roamed vast herds of Texas long homed cattle and
thousands of Spanish horses. Deer, too, were
numerous and usually went in droves. The grass in
many places was waist high and served well for a
hiding place for wild animals, consisting of
coyotes, lobo wolves, deer and other animals.

At that time there were four roads that crossed the
country and upon these travel was light. The oldest
and most traveled was the Goliad and San Patricio
road. This crossed the Paesta creek some miles below
Beeville. Then the San Antonio and St. Mary’s road
was designated through Bee County. It was marked
only by a furrow made by a plow from the upper Medio
down to the county line and never got to be a
plainly marked road, although at that time St.
Mary’s was quite a business place. There were a
number of business houses, wholesale and retail
stores, a large lumber yard and other places of
business. Large schooners loaded with lumber and
other merchandise landed at the wharf. Its business
men did a good business with all south Texas from
San Antonio to the coast. The means of
transportation were ox teams and large wagons,
requiring several weeks to make the round trip from
San Antonio to St. Mary’s. The teams subsisted
exclusively on the grass. And when the oxen would
get off a short distance from camp and they had
filled upon the grass and laid down the grass was so
rank as to hide them from view, and many times the
teamster after looking for hours for his oxen would
conclude that they had left the country, but after
awhile they would rise up out of the grass only a
short distance from camp. To one who has not seen
it, it is difficult to conceive of the luxuriance of
the grass.

In those days there were quite a number of camels
roaming at will over the prairies of Bee County. If
they were owned or claimed by any one we never heard
of it. They were a source of great annoyance to the
horse men as they would stampede their herds in
every direction and they, the camels, were of no
service to the horse men, so to protect their stock
they commenced a war of extermination and soon the
camels were a thing of the past. While Mr. Shook
lived in Beeville he rode out on the Tropical creek
and saw one of those camels and gave it a chase.
After a long run he roped and brought it to town
which caused many horses with saddles on to break
loose and run away. Mr. Shook turned the camel over
to us boys. It had been used as a pack animal in
Egypt or elsewhere and was well broke and by tapping
it on the knees, would lie down, when three or four
of us would mount and ride as long as we could hold
on, then make it kneel and dismount. It was great
fun. We kept it a few days and turned it loose.

Shortly after the commencement of the war a man
named Anderson went from Goliad to Virginia to enter
the army and procured one of those camels for his
mount and his trip from starting point to Memphis,
Tennessee was pictured with thrilling incidents all
the way and often he was threatened with death for
the great damage he and his camel wrought. He had
caused many wrecks to buggies and endangered the
lives of many people. He was a man of means but the
damage sustained by those he met almost bankrupted
him and forced him to abandon his mount before
reaching the army in Virginia. Had the south had a
few regiments of cavalry mounted on camels, all the
cavalry of the federal army could not have stood
before them, as all horses are afraid of them and
will always give a wide berth.

At the date of my coming to Bee County, 1860, it is
difficult to conceive of a more lovely place. There
was almost no undergrowth, one broad prairie covered
with the most luxuriant coat of grass. No roads, no
fences, travel was by direction, the creeks were
beautiful running streams with deep pools at short
intervals all along and were full of fish and
alligators. Deer and turkey were as common as the
proverbial pig tracks. Mustangs and wild horses
roamed the prairies in vast herds. In the language
of the poet, “The landscape everywhere was pleasing
and only man was vile.”

In a later article I may have something to say of
Bee County’s early settlers, most of whom have
passed to the great beyond.

Part 8:Old Settlers of Bee County
and Beeville

Before attempting to give the names of Bee County’s
first settlers, we will enter a gentle protest
against the typo who set up the last chapter of Bee
County history for the manner in which he changed
the name of what at one time was a prominent water
course in the territory. The names of the creeks
that in the long ago were beautiful running streams
were all Spanish, the autography of which language
is unknown to us. Consequently, we use the English
and spell them as pronounced in English. We know my
chirography is not up to the standard of excellence
so we do not expect a typo to follow copy verbatim
and usually do not complain, but in this case we
trust you will see the justness of our kick and make
the correction. It was on the Tapicat, not Tropical
creek, where Mr. Shook roped the camel. There are a
few other inaccuracies in the same article, but as
they do not affect the facts in the case we will not
protest. We know we cannot give the names and places
of all old time settlers, as we made no record of
them at the time. We are relying on memory and if
some prominent persons are omitted we would be
pleased to correct the mistake if our attention is
called to it.

The first family to settle in Bee County was the
Corrigan family. They located on the Mansas at the
old Corrigan ranch in 1829. With Mr. Corrigan was
his brother-in-law, Martin Tool, a bachelor, who
died only a few years ago, as did his sister, Mrs.
Corrigan. They lived to a good old age and saw
wonderful changes in their adopted home. A few years
later Pat Fadden and family settled near the
Corrigans, where they continued to reside until
their death. Others in the same section were Mr.
Leahy, D.C. Grover, D.S. Page, G.D. Gay, William
Miller and a Mr. Latting, who kept a store and post
office at Lattington. On the Paesta creek lived J.V.
Stewart, John Sweeney, Dick Hall, Rev. Berry
Merchant, David Kerry, Mr. Clemens and some others.
On the Papalote lived David Craven, Pat Quinn, Tim
and Luke Hart, L. Carlisle, Major Steen, D.
Callihan, C. Kirchner and the Burdett family. In
what is now the Clareville country lived H.T. Clare,
Eliza Clare, Henry Ryan, and lower down on the
Aransas lived John and Jim Wilson, J.B. Madray, R.H.
and T.H. Allsup, Noah Webster, Ben Fuller, W.R.
Hayes and a Rev. McCurdy. Above Beeville on the
Paesta lived Felix Newcomer, C.C. Jones, Giles
Carter and Pat Carrol. On the Tapicat lived the
Gilchnist family and Jas. Ryan and family. On the
lower Medio lived the Hines, Foxes, Goulds,
Williams, Phelps, Driscoll and Robinsans. Farther up
lived Bateses Curtis, W.M. Parchman, Dan Fuller,
M.G. Fellers, Josiah Turner, Alex Coker, J.H.
Pettus, Mrs. Scott and Mr. Palmer. Mr. Pettus
settled at where now the town of Pettus is located
in 1854. Two years later, in August 1856, the last
battle with Indians occurred on the dry Media in
hearing of the Pettus Ranch. The Indians were
Comanches, and the Rangers were commanded by Peter
Tumlinson. The Indians were all killed with the
exception of one, the guard, who made his escape.
Not a ranger was killed. Pat Burke was then a young
man. He, of all the young men that subdued and
civilized the wilderness, is the only one who has
maintained an uninterrupted home all these years
near Beeville. He raised a large family, all of whom
live in and near Beeville, and are among the best
citizens of the county. The old citizens of Beeville
were Dr. Taylor, who built the first residence. It
was southeast of the public square on a lot now
belonging to the J.D. Cleary estate. The others were
J.G. Cleary, W.S. Fuller, G.W. McClanahan, Dr.
Hayden, Leander Hayden, Mr. Bettis, B.R. David, W.W.
Arnett, James Wright and sons, W.C. and RC., Mr.
Roy, G.B. McCullom, Mr. Stevenson, Prof. JR Shook,
John Atkins, Thos. Brady, Mr. Davidson, who lived on
the lot where the Sims gin now stands, and John
Wallace, whose house stood where Mrs. McMemy’s house
now stands. This, I believe, includes all the
families then living in Beeville. Mr. McClanahan,
Mr. Cleary and a Jew firm of Arnold & Bra. had
stores here then. W.S. Fuller kept the only hotel.

Mr. Dawson had a little daughter three or four years
old who was playing near the door steps at about
sundown when a snake bit her. All was done for her
that could be to save her life, but in vain, as she
died about 9 o’clock that night and was buried the
next day in what is now the old cemetery. She was
the first person interred there. This was in the
fall of 1860. The next to be buried there was an
infant son of May Foster, in March, 1861. Mr. Foster
lived at the old Morris place, a mile west of town.
Mr. Morris after lived above town at what is known
as the Jim Little old ranch.

Part 9:

We ask your pardon for calling attention to a few
errors that crept into the chapter of last week. We
wrote Elzie, not Eliza dare. Mr. Elzie Clare was a
brother of H.T. Clare. We wrote J.F. not J.H.
Pettus. It was Mr. Dawson, not Davidson, whose home
was on the block now occupied by the Sims gin. It
was his child that was bitten by the snake and died
and was the first one to be interred in the old
cemetery.

We overlooked a few old settlers in my last. Mr.
Robt. Graham settled the Hubbard Eeds place above
Beeville about 1859. Ross Morris came in 1860. He
lived at the Jim Little old ranch. Graham and Morris
were the first to engage in sheep raising in Bee
County. In 1861 Rev. C. Cook and A.A. Scott and
families came and settled on the Tapicat and were in
the sheep business. Mr. R.E. Nutt, father and
brothers, lived on the Medic near old Beeville.
Later, they too, engaged in the sheep business. For
several years Bee County was one of the best sheep
countries known and many large flocks were kept. The
wool crop was a large item in the business of the
country. The cow men were prejudiced against sheep,
and when the land was put on the market, they bought
up large sections of it and forbade the sheep men
pasturing it. This limited their range to such an
extent as to drive many of them out of business and
force them to buy cattle or horses, for it was an
exclusive stock country up to that time. Very few
ranch men had even a garden for vegetables. Mr.
Leahy had a small farm which he cultivated and
always made corn. Mr. Carter, shortly after the
close of the war, put in a field of about 10 acres
at the Carter old ranch. This was about the extent
of the farming in Bee County up to 1875, except at
the Pettus ranch and the old Ware ranch, where some
little effort was made along this line.

Early in the 70’s the land owners commenced to fence
their land. First post and plank were used, then
what was known as black ungalvanized wire, then the
barbed wire, soon the whole country was under fence.
This revolutionized the stock industry so far as the
handling and working of stock was concerned and
almost depopulated the country. The man with a few
acres and a few hundred head of stock was shut off
from free grass, consequently he was forced to sell
his land or his stock, and as it was not known that
Bee county soil was good agricultural land, he sold
the land at about 50~ per acre, gathered his stock
and went west.

Since then it has developed that Bee County is one
of the best agricultural and horticultural sections
of the Southwest and lands that in ‘75 were thought
well sold at 50~ cannot now be bought at $10 or $15
per acre and is being bought at a higher price put
into cultivation, and the farmers are prosperous and
happy. Many new settlements and towns are springing
up, the population is increasing, schools and
churches are to be found where only a few years ago
domestic and wild animals roamed at will. And still
the spirit of enterprise is not wakened, and to
forecast the future of Bee County, predicating
conjectures on the developments of the last twenty
years, we would be safe in predicting for Beeville a
population of 10,000. The citrus fruit crops equal
or surpass in quantity and quality that of
California. Other fruits, such as peaches, pears,
plums, figs and pomegranates all do well as do
strawberries, dewberries and blackberries. Soon
dates will be an important crop but as we are no
prophet, nor the son of one, we will bring this
series of historical reminiscences to a close, as we
have got it down to a date so modem that all can
learn of the recent past from his neighbors.

by Thomas Ragsdale Atkins

JONES, CAPTAIN ALLEN CARTER

Captain A.C. Jones

(Dec. 27,1830— Mar. 2,1905)

“Captain A.C. Jones was known as “the father of
Beeville”. He was an enterprising, energetic and far
visioned community leader in the earlier years of
Beeville County.” From the Beeville Picayune -
Centennial Issue.

The following is an excerpt from his obituary
printed by The Beeville Bee Friday, March 10, 1905.

Like the typical American that he was, Allen Carter
Jones was a self-made man. That he attained a large
measure of success in life and that in his successes
he never forgot to help others, so that when he was
laid away all those who knew him mourned, showed how
well he builded his character. Born of South
Carolina stock in Nacogdoches County December 27th,
1830, his parents, A.C. and Mary Jane Jones, were
among the earliest of American settlers in Texas
while it was a province of Mexico. His ancestry
reached back to the early settlement of America. His
grandfather, Jacob Jones, was a captain in the
colonial army during the Revolutionary war.
Distinctively American, then was the young pioneer,
though born a citizen of Mexico. In his span of life
of seventy-four years, two months and three days,
there could have been few in the state entitled to
the distinction of being an older Texan than he.

Schools were few in Texas in the period when the
young man was growing up and the age of twenty-one
found A.C. Jones, Jr. little acquainted with books
and their instructive influences. Those who knew the
man in the meridian of life found him measuring up
with men of his time in information of the day, the
world, its affairs, and the intricacies of commerce.
As he toiled he had learned, as he ran he had read,
as he listened he had garnered, and his declining
days found him the peer of any

intellect who had pursued fortune. He took a wide
interest in the affairs not only of his state and
his deductions so well-drawn as the papers each day
unfolded the happenings of the yesterday, that to
the discerning there could not fail come the
suggestions that in him was the material, and but
the environment needed to have developed a character
national in its range of activities and influence.

The boyhood of the subject of this sketch, spent on
the borders of civilization, was attendant with
scenes of privation and danger —times when men had
alternately to labor and fight. Indian raids and
marauding bands of Mexicans were not infrequent, and
of the the toiler had to lay aside the implements of
peace for those of war. These only strengthened the
inherent courage of the young pioneer, that
distinguished him so that in 1858 he is elected
sheriff of Goliad County, where his parents had
moved before he attained his majority. This office
he held a number of years, in fact until duty called
him to shoulder arms in the fratracidal war between
the states.

In 1861, Captain Jones enlisted as a private in
Company E, Waller’s Battalion, in General Dick
Taylor’s command. After eighteen months’ service the
same qualities that characterized him in private
life, brought him a promotion from the ranks to a
captaincy, and order to report for duty in west
Texas. He remained on duty in that section until the
close of the war. A part of the time he was under
command of Colonel Santos Benevides and at other
times of Colonel John S. Ford. In his service on the
Rio Grande he was severely wounded while scouting
with a small body of his men near Rio Grande City, a
charge of leaden slugs being fired into his face at
close range by a Mexican ranchero, who mistook his
men for marauders. To his splendid physique,
tempered by a life of activity was his recovery due.
At one time during his service on the Rio Grande he
was commandant of Fort Brown.

...On the advent of a superior force of federals
from the coast, the Confederate forces, including
those under Captain Jones, retired from Brownsville.
This was the last year of the war and after all the
other forces of the Confederacy had laid down their
arms. Captain Jones’ company constituted the rear
guard. Pursued, it wheeled about face on the old
Palo Alto battle ground, fired upon its pursuers and
caused them to halt. This was the last fight of the
Confederacy. The command divided its company
property on reaching Beeville and disbanded. It
never surrendered. The result of the war was
accepted by Captain Jones in good faith. When he
laid aside arms, he also laid aside his prejudices,
and he became once again a loyal citizen of a
reunited republic. While proud of his record as a
soldier of the lost cause, he had no word of censure
for those who fought on the opposite side. His
policy was rather than indulge in regrets over what
might have been, to make the most of the present.

In 1871 Captain Jones settled in Beeville and
engaged in merchandising. In the same year he was
united to Miss Jane Fields of Goliad, who survives
him, and who in the years of his association with
this county, has been both an inspiration and a wise
counsellor to him. It was his inflexible rule to
consult his wife before assuming any business
undertaking, and it was his proud reflection that in
following the decisions at the daily councils he had
never made a mistake.

His residence here has been
coincident with the town and county’s growth. Of
sanguine temperament cooly considered, and then
put into every business enterprise all the vim
and enterprise needed to make it a success.
Retiring from the mercantile pursuit in 1884. in
which he was the people’s banker as well as
purveyor, to direct his attention to his cattle
business which had assumed large proportions, he was
not long allowed to sever his relations with the
public weal. In 1885 he was instrumental in
diverting the construction of the Aransas Pass
railway by way of Beeville instead of down the San
Patricio river as had been originally projected.
Others despaired of raising a cash bonus of $60,000,
and as much more inland. He said it could be done,
and by subscribing one tenth of it himself showed
the way. This was his rule; to every enterprise of
public good, large or small, he gave one tenth.
Again in 1888 was his intrepid hand shown in an
industrial way. The Aransas Pass had largely
benefited the country but another road was needed to
give an outlet to the east. To New York he went and
laid before Collis P. Huntington the project of
extending the Gulf, West Texas & Pacific from
Victoria to Beeville. The latter demanded $60,000 as
a bonus. So confident was Captain Jones of his
ability to raise the amount he promptly accepted the
proposition. Returning home he raised the bonus
within thirty or forty days, the road was built,
which will forever remain a monument to his
enterprise. The acquaintance formed with the great
railroad builder at this time ripened into
friendship, and continued uninterrupted until Mr.
Huntington’s death.

Locally Captain Jones interested
himself in nearly every enterprise of note. He was
one of the founders and principal stockholders of
the First National Bank, and president and general
manager of the Beeville oil mill. His ranching
interests were extensive, as well as his
agricultural operations. He annually had a couple of
thousand acres in cultivation, which with his
interests in the city, kept him a busy man and in
close touch with the people. No wonder it is that a
man so identified with the commercial life of the
town should be so sadly missed and mourning so
universal over his demise.

BEE COUNTY’S NEWSPAPERS T4

Beeville Picayune publisher T.R. Atkins stands at
right in his newspaper shop about 1895. Two
employees look on.

On May 13, 1886, a young Mississippian William 0.
McCurdy, issued the first newspaper ever published
in Bee County. Then only 20 years old, McCurdy made
a success of The Beeville Bee, so much so
that by the time he died at the age of 47 on June
19, 1913, he had created an estate valued at
$50,000, was a director in a local bank, member of
the city commission and chairman of the county’s
Democratic Party.

Recognized as one of the most influential citizens
of Southwest Texas and certainly one of the most
successful small town newspapermen in the state,
McCurdy was survived by his wife, Beeville native
Elizabeth Wood McCurdy, three daughters, Mary,
Martha and Elizabeth, and a son, William 0. McCurdy
Jr. One daughter, Mary McCurdy Welder, and his son
still live in Beeville, as do numerous other
descendants.

Beeville was a struggling little county seat town of
about 300 citizens when McCurdy came here from
Goliad, where he had been briefly employed. But the
pending arrival of the first railroad in this city,
the San Antonio and Aransas Pass, also in 1886, led
the young man to consider establishing a newspaper.
He received encouragement and assistance from Capt.
A.C. Jones, later known as the “father of Beeville,”
and the sheriff, Capt. D.A.T. Walton, in securing
subscribers and advertisers.

The town’s population grew rather rapidly with the
completion of the first railroad from San Antonio to
the coast, followed in 1890 with the building of the
Gulf, Western Texas & Pacific Railroad (a subsidiary
of Southern Pacific) into Beeville from Victoria and
Houston. The two building booms which accompanied
the arrival of the railroads made this “a splendid
little city” in those early days. McCurdy soon had
competition with the founding of The Beeville
Picayune in 1890 by brothers Carl and M.M.
McFarland, who came here from Victoria. The brothers
had worked on the famous New Orleans Picayune
and decided to name their newspaper here in honor of
one of the South’s most renowned periodicals.

The
Bee’s original home was in the loft of a
building almost midway in the 100 block of North St.
Mary’s Street, where McCurdy set up a George
Washington hand press, small job printing press and
two cases of type, and began his newspaper career.
He next moved the Bee to a location over the
T.J. Skaggs store, on the north side of the
courthouse square on West Corpus Christi Street.
Later, after purchasing a lot about a block away on
the same street, McCurdy erected a frame edifice,
which was replaced in 1910 by a concrete block,
fireproof building. There he assembled a modem
printing plant, which included some of the first
Linotype machines in the area.

Following McCurdy’s death in 1913,
his widow sold the Bee to R.W. “Whizzy”
Barry, who had been a reporter and then published it
until 1924, when he sold it to Arthur Shannon of
Wharton. The latter continued to publish it until
1928, when the two competing weekly newspapers were
consolidated into the
Bee-Picayune.

In the meantime, the McFarland brothers quickly grew
discouraged and sold the Picayune to J.K.
Street, who in turn traded it to Thomas Ragsdale
Atkins in exchange for Atkins’ Skidmore Hotel in
December 1894. There Atkins’ young son, George
Henry, grew up in the newspaper business, only to
find his father being forced to sell the paper
(because of the economic hard times) to W.C. Wright
and Frank Shannon in 1903. George then left for a
village nine miles north of Beeville, where he
established The Normanna Nugget. The little
paper failed to flourish and the publisher abandoned
it a year later and returned to Beeville.

Wright, who was then sole owner of the Picayune,
hired George Atkins as editor at a salary of $40
a month. Two years later, Atkins believed he
deserved a raise and asked for an additional $5 per
month, only to learn that Wright was thinking of
letting the young man go. Atkins moved to San
Antonio and worked in a printing shop there for a
year when he heard from Wright, who said he would
have to leave Beeville in the interest of his wife’s
health. Was Atkins interested in buying the
Picayune at his own price and terms? ‘That was
the only way I could have bought it,” Atkins said,
recalling that he had borrowed $1,000 and purchased
the newspaper on Oct. 1, 1907.